Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment Slows Down in May

Japanese domestic shipment of cemented carbide tools increased by 2% to 29.23 billion yen in May from a year earlier, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment increased by 22% year-on-year for export while represented the first y/y decrease for domestic market since September 2002.The shipment value kept the high level but slowed down with less business days in May, which exceeded 30 billion yen per month for February-April of this year. The shipment for domestic consumers kept the high level at above 20 billion yen per month since March 2006, though which has shown 1-digit y/y growth since January 2007. The demand growth seems slower than export. The export represented the 2-digit growth for 13 months in a row by May.The shipment of cutting tools maintained steady thanks to the strong export of insert chips. Shipment volume of insert chips represented 2-digit y/y growth for 13 months in a row. The shipment of sintered diamond and the tool, including cubic boron nitride (CBN) tools, kept stable. The demand for CBN tools was steady to manufacture hard-to-cut materials such as airplane parts and bearings, while diamond tool shipment became slower.The shipment of wear resistant tools showed the first y/y down since August 2006 due to severe competitions with overseas makers especially for carbide molds. The shipment of rock drilling tools kept active thanks to active development of resources and infrastructures at overseas.Domestic production of cemented carbide alloy exceeded 500 tonnes per month for February-May thanks to the shipment increase of low fabricating tools such as insert chips and rock drilling chips.the commercial output start of magnesium alloy plate in fiscal 2009.