Japan Rare Metal Import Recovers for Electronic Applications in January

Japanese rare metal import volume represented year-to-year plus for some items related to electronic appliances such as rare earths, indium and tantalum in January, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. On the other hand, some items continued to represent year-to-year minus such for molybdenum.

The import volume of rare earths increased by 2.5 times to 725 tonnes in January from a year earlier. The import had maintained year-to-year minus by July 2009 due to the domestic consumers’ inventory adjustment and the change of the importing shapes. The demand recovered such for neodymium-iron-boron magnet. The magnet and magnetic alloy makers restarted material procurement.

The indium import increased by 17% in January from a year earlier, a material for transparent electrodes of liquid crystal panels. The import represented year-to-year plus for 3 straight months since Japanese sputtering target makers recommenced material purchase. The demand is also steady from low-melting-point alloy makers.

The tantalum (potassium fluorotantalate) import increased by 88% in January from a year earlier thanks to the stable demand for tantalum capacitors. The antimony import expanded by 2.5 times which is widely utilized for automobiles, home appliances and chemicals.

Meanwhile, the molybdenum concentrate import decreased by 17% in January from a year earlier. The import volume was relatively high in January 2009 when domestic consumers kept material procurement based on long-term contracts. At present, inventory adjustment has progressed at Japanese steel makers and molybdenum import has recovered. The vanadium import also represented year-to-year minus in January.