Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment Reaches 20B Yen for 4 Months

Japanese domestic shipment value of cemented carbide tools increased by 74% to 21.2 billion yen in May from a year earlier, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment exceeded 20 billion yen for 4 straight months thanks to the steady demand from car and electric appliance industries. Compared with April, the shipment lowered by 5.8% due to less business days in May.

Month-on-month tool shipment growth has recently slowed down since domestic car production hit the recent peak in March 2010. However, the value represents stable with active tool demand at overseas, mainly in China, and high operations of electric appliance and component makers.

Japanese cemented carbide tool export exceeded 6 billion yen for 3 months in a row. Domestic production of cemented carbide alloy represented above 400 tonnes for 3 straight months.

The shipment of cutting tools increased by 84.1% to 15.9 billion yen in May from a year earlier. The shipment volume of insert chips, the main item, more than doubled to 21.605 million pieces. Insert chip shipment exceeded 20 million pieces for 3 straight months and recovered to 91% level compared with May 2008 before Lehman Shock.