Japan Strong Shipment of Cemented Carbide Tools in November

Japanese domestic shipment of cemented carbide tools increased by 7.5% to 31.232 billion yen in November 2007 from a year earlier, which exceeded 31 billion yen for 2 months in a row after record 31.67 billion yen in October, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association.The shipment of cutting tools exceeded 23 billion yen for 2 straight months after record 23.663 billion yen in October. The demand was strong thanks to the increase of domestic automobile output for offshore markets, the active production of airplane parts by domestic part makers and the aggressive investment by the tool users, mainly Japanese automakers, at overseas. The shipment of sintered diamond and the tool exceeded 2 billion yen for 5 months in a row by November 2007. The demand is increasing for airplane parts manufacturing since hard-cutting materials such as carbon fiber and heat resistant alloy are used for airplanes. Japanese export of cemented carbide tools expanded rapidly in 2007, which exceeded 7 billion yen for the first time in March 2007 and reached 8 billion yen in October. The export hit 8 billion yen again in November thanks to the strong demand mainly for inserts from Europe and Asia. The sum of the export value increased by 12.3% for January-November 2007 compared with the corresponding period of 2006, while the domestic shipment value upped by 5%.