Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment Hits Another Record in 2007

Japanese cemented carbide tool shipment increased by 6.7% to record 350.302 billion yen in 2007 from 2006, which renewed record for 4 years in a row, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment recovered in the second half of the year thanks to aggressive investment by automakers after the shipment was slow since second half of 2006. The export also renewed the record for 5 years in a row. The export value increased by 12.7% in 2007 from 2006 while the domestic demand increased by 4.8%. The export grew faster than domestic demand when automakers expand the offshore production. The cutting tool shipment increased by 6.8% to 260.17 billion yen in 2007 from 2006. The shipment is expected to increase more in 2008 when Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo Electric Industries try to expand the output capacity for insert chip.