Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Shipment Shows First Drop in 7 Years

Japanese domestic shipment of cemented carbide tools represented the first year-to-year minus since fiscal 2001 (Apr01-Mar02). The shipment decreased by 20.6% to 283.4 billion yen in fiscal 2008 from fiscal 2007, which continued to revise the annual record for 5 straight years, according to Japan Cemented Carbide Tool Manufacturers’ Association. The minus range exceeded 20 percentage points for the first time since fiscal 1975. Domestic and overseas demand for cutting tools and cemented carbide molds dropped down in the second half year along automobile and electric appliance makers’ sharp output shrinkage.

The shipment showed slight year-to-year plus in the first half of fiscal 2008 but turned to the wide-range minus in the second half year. The minus range was 2.1 percentage points for July-September, 25 percentage points for October-December and 57.5 percentage points for January-March.

The export value represented the first year-to-year minus since fiscal 2001, though which showed strong growth in late 7 years. The demand was impacted by automakers’ global output reductions. The export decreased by 21.2% to 41.8 billion yen for Southeast Asia, by 21.2% to 18.5 billion yen for Europe and by 22.3% to 9.4 billion yen for North America.

The monthly shipment in March was 12.2 billion yen, down by 61.4% from a year earlier. The shipment showed the record minus for 3 months in a row. Cemented carbide alloy production volume hit the lowest for 3 straight months.