Japanese indium import was 28 tonnes in December 2011, which decreased by 18% from a year earlier and hit the secondly yearly lowest next to 25 tonnes in October 2011, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. Japanese sputtering target material makers, the main consumers of indium, seem to have decreased material procurement when liquid crystal panel market was under global inventory adjustment.
The import volume of tantalum (potassium fluorotantalate) halved to 52 tonnes from a year earlier. Tantalum is used for capacitors but the demand has declined along the market deterioration for liquid crystal panels and semiconductors. The import volume of cerium oxide also dropped to one tenth year-on-year, which is used as polishing agent for liquid crystal panels and hard discs. Another factor was that the users tended to decrease cerium usage because of the price upsurge. On the contrary, Japanese rare earth metal import jumped by 46% to 574 tonnes in December from a year earlier. The demand was steady mainly for permanent magnets adopted to vehicles and energy saving home appliances. Chinese inventory holders are currently moving to realization sales. Japanese rare earth traders and consumers are being able to secure rare earth metals easier than before. The unit import price was 12,642 yen per kilogram, 32% lower than the peak in October 2011.