Japan Indexable Insert Chip Shipment Keeps Record High Volume in January

Japanese domestic shipment value of cemented carbide tools totaled 22.7 billion yen in January, plus by 24.6% from a year earlier, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment value represented year-to-year plus for 14 straight months. Demand maintains steady for cutting tools, especially for indexable insert chip, mainly from transporting machine industry such as cars and airplanes.

Cutting tool’s shipment kept above 17 billion yen per month for December and January. The value slightly downed from average 18-19 billion yen until November but kept steady level. Shipment volume of indexable insert chip, the main item among cutting tools, hit record 25 million chips per month in June and kept the level expect for August and December. Chip demand seems strong for export.

Shipment value of sintered diamond and cubic boron nitride tools, used to process hard-cutting materials, also represented year-to-year plus for 14 straight months. Wear resistant tools and rock drilling tools also maintained year-to-year plus. However, wear resistant tools represented one-digit plus for December and January and leveled off at around 3 billion yen per month.