Japanese Electronic Material Output Shows 9% Y/Y Minus in October

Japanese electronic materials production was 32.7 billion yen in October, down by 9% from a year earlier, according to Japan Electronics & Technology Industries Association. The output value recovered the level as high as a year earlier for some metal materials thanks to the demand recovery from automobiles and home appliances.

Production of metal materials was 3.27 billion yen in October, down by 5% from a year earlier. Compared with February 2009 when significant inventory adjustment occurred, the output value increased by 3.6 times.

Production of permanent magnets was 7.48 billion yen, down by 20%. Output value of rare earth magnets represented 22% decrease, used for hybrid cars and energy saving home appliances. Ferrite magnets represented 9% decline to reflect the demand recovery.

Production of dielectric ceramics decreased by 4% to 21.1 billion yen. Soft ferrite production showed 28% decrease.