Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment to Increase by 37.6% in F2010

Japanese cemented carbide tools shipment will increase by 37.6% to 280 billion yen in fiscal 2010 started April from fiscal 2009, which increases for the first time in 3 years, announced by Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The shipment is expected to increase by 13.1% to 133 billion yen in the first half from second half of fiscal 2009 and by 10.5% to 147 billion yen in the second half from the first half. However, the shipment in fiscal 2010 is 21.6% lower than the record 357.2 billion yen in fiscal 2007.

The shipment bottomed at 85.9 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2009 and increased to 117.6 billion yen in the second half. The association expects the gradual recovery in fiscal 2010 and the export rate increases to the record 29% of the shipment. The export is expected to increase to the largest destination of China and Southeast Asia.

The cutting tool shipment is estimated to increase by 12.6% to 97.1 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2010 from second half of fiscal 2009 and by 10.5% to 107.3 billion yen in the second half from the first half. The shipment of sintered diamond and cubic boron nitride tool, which is used to process hard-cutting material, is estimated to increase by 8.8% to 8.7 billion yen in the first half from second half of fiscal 2009 and by 10.3% to 9.6 billion yen in the second half from the first half.