Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment Steadily Recovers in June

Japanese domestic shipment value of cemented carbide tools totaled 129.2 billion yen for January-June 2010, increasing by 67.1% from the same period of 2009 and by 25.1% against the previous 6 months of July-December 2009, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. Demand for cemented carbide tools upturned from the bottom of January-June 2009 in response to output recovery of automobiles and electric appliances. The demand is especially strong at overseas. By items, volume recovery is remarkably strong for indexable insert chips.

Compared with a pre-shock term of January-June 2008, the shipment value for domestic market recovered 70% level while the shipment for export reached 80% level. The shipment volume of indexable insert chips recovered to 90% of January-June 2008, those which are used for cutting metal parts. In fiscal 2009 ended in March 2010, indexable insert chips accounted for 70% in Japanese annual export value of cemented carbide tools. Consequently current shipment recovery of Japanese cemented carbide tools seems accelerated by offshore strong demand for indexable insert chips.

In June, Japanese domestic shipment of cemented carbide tools totaled 24.2 billion yen, year-on-year plus by 63.1% and month-on-month plus by 14.1%. The monthly shipment leveled off during March-May while represented 2-digit increase after 3 months in June. Shipment volume of indexable insert chip exceeded 25 million chips per month for the first time and increased by 2.1% from June 2008 of pre-shock.