Japan is still the focus of mold manufacturing power

Japan's mold production capacity accounts for about 40% of the world's total, ranking first in the world. It exports large quantities of molds to foreign countries every year. With the increasingly fierce competition in the mold market, the Japanese mold industry is also working hard to reduce production costs. Let's analyze the latest trends in the Japanese mold market.

I. Analysis of the overall production and sales According to the statistics of Japanese industrial statistics in 2004, the number of mold manufacturers in the country is about 10,483, and about 103,000 employees are employed. Large-scale small companies accounted for 77.4% of the total number of employees with less than 10 employees, and 89.2% of those with less than 20 employees. This was slightly higher than the 87% in the Chinese region (manufacturers under 20). Japan's mold output value and domestic total demand continued to decline from 2001 to 2002. In 2002, output value fell to 1.2 trillion yen, domestic demand fell to 1.4 trillion yen, which was the lowest value in the past five years. Fortunately, 2003 The annual growth rate has risen by only 12.8%, and the growth rate has been reduced to 4.4% in 2004. It is expected to maintain a slight growth in 2005. However, it is worth noting that the import value of molds in Japan before 2003 was in the range of 40 to 45 billion. Between 2004 and 2005, the yen reached a level of 50 billion yen. By 2005, it exceeded 70 billion yen. Compared with a few years ago, the import value increased by as much as 70%, and further observation of the domestic mold industry production in Japan Manufacturers and employees are all significantly lower. In addition, the large-scale development of the mold industry in other Asian countries and regions, and the increase in cost and technological competitiveness, have also forced Japanese mold prices to drop by about 20%.

II. Import and Export Profile Analysis In terms of import and export countries, the top five import countries in Japan in 2005 and their import share were: South Korea (59.8%), Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (18.4%), and Taiwan (4.7%). ), Thailand (4.3%) and the United States (2.8%). Among them, South Korea has become a Japan's most important mold importer because its mold technology has already reached a certain level and, combined with favorable conditions, it has increased its import share by more than 50% year-on-year. The proportion of exporting countries is relatively even. The top five exporting countries and their export percentages are: mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (26.8%), the United States (17.8%), Thailand (13.2%), Mexico (4.9%) and the United Kingdom. (4.7%) etc. It is noteworthy that since the world's manufacturing center moved to China, it has made the region the fastest growing export value of molds in Japan in recent years, and also shows the unlimited business opportunities in the Chinese mainland market. . Japan’s main exporting countries have been mainly Asian countries, but in recent years they have gradually expanded to European and American markets.

Third, the future outlook Japan's mold production accounts for about 40% of the world, ranking first in the world, exporting a large number of molds abroad each year. Now that the mold market is increasingly fierce, the Japanese mold industry is also working hard to reduce production costs. The mold industry is an industry with high labor costs. Japan's labor costs are more than ten times that of China and Southeast Asia, and more than 70% of labor costs are non-core technical personnel. Therefore, the mold industry in Japan is gradually shifting the molds with low technological content to areas with low labor costs, and only producing higher-tech products in the country. This is followed by the tendency of major companies in Japan to use molds to speed up the transfer to foreign countries, which has reduced the use of molds in Japan. Like the mold industry, the electromechanical industry has also expanded overseas in order to reduce costs. The middle- and low-range molds needed have begun to use lower-priced local molds. To this end, the Japanese mold industry has accelerated the pace of developing mold factories overseas. At present, Japan's mold prices have dropped by about 20% compared with 1998, but this is the result of Japan's expansion of overseas mold manufacturing bases. This undoubtedly enhances the competitiveness of Japanese molds in the world market. Therefore, Japan is still a world leader in die manufacturing. Its profits have not shrunk, but it has made the mold industry more competitive by shifting overseas.