Why does the carbide drill market grow even during COVID-19? (1/2)

January 26, 2021

Demand from semiconductors and 5G drives PCB drill production

Production volume of cemented carbide drills has been increasing in Japan. While production value declined in 2020 during the spread of COVID-19, production volume continued to grow. Why did this happen?

To investigate the reason behind this unusual trend, the editorial team at News Digest Publishing, the publisher of SEISANZAI Japan, looked into the carbide drill market. Their research found that printed circuit board (PCB) drills likely contributed to the continued increase in production volume.

Carbide drills behave differently from other cutting tools

The cutting tool industry, like many other sectors, was impacted by the spread of COVID-19. However, cemented carbide drills showed a different trend from other tools.

A bar graph (not shown here) compiled by the editorial team based on Machinery Statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry tracks changes in the production volume and value of cemented carbide drills in Japan from October 2015 to September 2020.

Key observations include:

Production volume of cemented carbide drills did not decline, even during the pandemic—it has been steadily increasing for five years.
In contrast, production value, which had been rising before the pandemic, dropped sharply in 2020.

For comparison, the team also examined trends for carbide end mills and high-speed steel drills. Both categories saw declines in both volume and value in 2020, following typical market patterns during an economic downturn.

Possible reason: growth in PCB drills

Why did carbide drills alone show such a unique trend? One assumption is that low-cost carbide drills may have been mass-produced, which would explain increased volume but reduced value.

However, after conducting interviews with multiple cutting tool manufacturers, SEISANZAI Japan found another possible explanation: the PCB drill market may have expanded during the pandemic.

The second part of this article will be uploaded on January 27th.