Japan Indexable Insert Chip Shipment Hits Record in February

Japanese domestic shipment value of cemented carbide tools totaled 24.4 billion yen in February, plus by 20.6% from a year earlier, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment value represented year-to-year plus for 15 straight months. Shipment volume of indexable insert chip hit the highest monthly record at 25.5 million chips.

The total shipment value could reach 280 billion yen for a full year of fiscal 2010 (April 2010-March 2011), forecasted by Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association in June 2010, if the shipment keeps the pace as high as until February. The demand kept steady for cutting tools mainly from automobile and airplane industries as well as export, though the shipment value is about 20% lower than the record in fiscal 2007.

Shipment volume of indexable insert chip could exceed the yearly record in fiscal 2007 by about 20 million chips and mark the new yearly record in fiscal 2010 if the shipment keeps the pace as high as until February. The demand seems to be strong for export especially to China and other emerging countries.

However, in March, Japanese major tool makers’ several plants were downed by Japan Earthquake. The impact on the statistics is unforeseeable at present.