Japan Rare Metals Import Increases in June

Japanese rare metals import increased for 11 items including rare earths, antimony, tantalum and indium among 22 items in June from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The averaged unit price of the imports increased for 12 items including rare earths, antimony, lithium, yttrium and titanium. Especially the price of rare earths doubled to above 2,000 yen per kilogram. On the other hand, the price of additive materials for steel making including vanadium and molybdenum plunged down.Japanese rare earths import increased by 18.7% to 881 tonnes in June from a year ago when the demand is sharply increasing for permanent magnet. The demand of Neodymium, which is the main material for permanent magnet, is especially increasing. The averaged unit price of imported rare earths almost doubled to 2,046 yen per kg.The antimony import increased by 38% to 403 tonnes and the averaged unit price rose up by 79% to 550 yen per kg in June from a year ago. The unit price owed the increase to the high antimony market at overseas. The averaged unit price also increased for imported titanium, which increased by 55% to 2,208 yen per kg.The averaged unit price of additive materials for steel making was in the down trend due to the plunge of international prices. The unit price of imported vanadium decreased to 1,991 yen per kg in June 2006 from 5,796 yen in June 2005 and the price of molybdenum decreased to 3,898 yen per kg from 5,346 yen. The import volume also decreased for both.