Japan Cu Alloy Products Shipment Maintains Low in March

Japanese domestic shipment of copper fabricated products decreased by 57.4% to 37,124 tonnes in March from a year earlier, which represented year-to-year minus for 8 straight months, according to Japan Copper & Brass Association. The demand maintained stagnant due to continuous output reductions by the copper product customers, mainly automakers. Meanwhile, the minus range narrowed for several applications such as semiconductors.

The shipment for domestic market decreased by 55.3% to 31,411 tonnes in March from a year earlier. The shipment for electric machine connectors dropped by 79.2% to 2,762 tonnes, the minus range of which revised the record for 4 straight months. The shipment of copper and brass strips declined along the market shrinkage of cellular phones and personal computers. The shipment for transporting machines dropped by 68.1% to 1,998 tonnes due to low demand for copper alloy strips from automotive connectors.

The shipment for semiconductor related applications declined by 75.3% to 1,095 tonnes. Copper alloy and phosphor bronze strips are used as leadframe materials. Meanwhile, the minus range narrowed from 77.7% in February. The demand seemed to recover slightly along the progress of inventory adjustment at semiconductor makers.

The shipment for gas appliances was 2,806 tonnes in March, lower by 33.3% from a year earlier due to stagnation in domestic construction market. However, the minus range narrowed by about 5 points from 38.8% in February.

The shipment for export decreased by 66.1% to 5,713 tonnes. The export of phosphor bronze and copper alloy sheet and strip decreased with low demand in Asian countries and higher yen exchange rate.