Japan's carbon black Q1 data released: production and shipments both fell

On June 17, it was reported that Japan's carbon black industry showed certain fluctuations in the first quarter of 2024. Data showed that Japan's carbon black output reached 135,500 tons in the quarter, down 4.6% from the same period last year. At the same time, shipments also showed a 4.2% decline to 131,100 tons. In terms of international trade, Japan's carbon black exports increased in the first quarter of this year, reaching 12,600 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. However, imports fell by 11.6% to 26,400 tons.

Looking further at the data for March 2024, we found that carbon black output was 46,400 tons, a slight increase of 0.7% year-on-year. However, in the market segment, the output of carbon black for rubber was 44,300 tons, a slight year-on-year decrease of 0.7%. At the same time, the output of non-rubber carbon black showed a significant increase of 40.1%, reaching 2,200 tons. In terms of shipments, total shipments were 45,400 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 8.1%. In particular, shipments of carbon black for rubber fell 8.2% year-on-year to 42,900 tons. Shipments of non-rubber carbon black also fell 7.0% to 2,500 tons.