Japanese annual indium import increased by 18% to 494 tonnes in CY2011 from CY2010, which is likely to have hit the yearly record volume, according to the rare metal trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. Indium is used mainly as transparent electrode material for liquid crystal panels. The import volume largely increased in the first half year since domestic traders apparently procured indium actively for the consumers in West Japan. The import slowed down in the second half year along the inventory adjustment of liquid crystal panels.
Japanese indium import hit the monthly highest at 59 tonnes in April 2011. The import kept the high level at 58 tonnes in May. Rare metal traders around Tokyo seemed to increase the procurement. The Japan Earthquake hit the major plant of ITO (indium tin oxide) sputtering target in East Japan. Then emergency orders rushed to ITO plants in West Japan. One Japanese trader source suggested ITO producers moved to direct indium procurement through traders in order to meet the sudden order expansion. In the second half of CY2011, liquid crystal panel market entered the serious inventory adjustment phase. Japanese indium import leveled off at around 20-40 tonnes per month. As for rare earth metals, Japanese annual import decreased by 5% to 5,211 tonnes in CY2011 from CY2010. Rare earth users showed weak appetite for permanent magnet materials, such as metallic neodymium, when the market prices had surged speculatively. Rare earth magnets are majorly used for motors inside electric vehicles and energy saving home appliances. Another factor was that the import partially shifted to ferroalloy index since Chinese government allocated rare-earth-containing ferroalloys to its export license metal group.
