Japan K-salt Import Pauses from China, Increases from USA

Japanese import of potassium tantalum fluoride (K-salt) from China has paused since December 2006. The background is supposed that Chinese government prohibited consignment manufacturing trade of K-salt in September 2006. Japanese K-salt import from USA has increased on the other hand, which totaled 527 tonnes during January-September 2007, 2.7 times as much as the corresponding period of 2006, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance.K-salt is a primary material for tantalum powder. Tantalum powder is used mainly for tantalum capacitors. There are 2 large K-salt producers worldwide, Cabot Supermetals of USA and HC Stark of Germany.Cabot had contracted K-salt manufacturing with Chinese local processor by 2006. Chinese government prohibited consignment manufacturing trade of rare metals by foreign capitals in 2006 to protect domestic environment and local manufacturers’ profitability. Japanese trader source said Cabot might shift K-salt production from China to USA. Japanese total K-salt import was 56 tonnes in December 2006, which almost halved from the previous month. The import from USA jumped up to 128 tonnes in February 2007, 4 times as much as a year earlier. Japanese K-salt import from USA represented year-to-year increase in almost all months during January-September 2007.