Japan Rare Earth Import Decreases in May

Japanese import volume of rare earths decreased by 46.3% year-on-year in May when Japanese consumers seemed to reduce the procurement, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The import volume also decreased in May for indium, cerium oxide and tantalum (potassium fluorotantalate) those which are used as electronic materials.As to rare earths, Chinese producers seem to be stopping production of rare earth carbonate, the intermediate material of rare earths, before Beijing Olympic and with expectations to sustain the high price level.Japanese indium import volume decreased by 20.4% year-on-year in May. The demand was firm from indium-tin-oxide target materials but the target material makers minimized the procurement with plenty inventories.Cerium oxide import decreased by 54.1% year-on-year in May, which is used as glass polishing agent. Tantalum (potassium fluorotantalate) import decreased by 47.9%, used for capacitors, lithium carbonate declined by 44% and strontium carbonate downed by 6.5%, applied to secondary batteries.