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Metal Home-Use Vessels 2003 |
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1). Our original intention was to write about metal pots and pans. Upon further inspection, however, we found that there exist no statistics on pots and pans alone, and that metal tableware (trays, plates and napkin rings, etc.), kitchen utensils (pans, frying pans, kettles, steamers, pressure cookers, jugs, and salt and pepper sets, etc.) and household goods (ashtrays, buckets, garbage cans, ironing boards, laundry baskets, letter racks, vegetable and fruit baskets, and tubs, etc.) are all lumped together in the statistics. Here we do not include Western-style metal tableware, and our focus is mainly on metal pots and pans. 2). The main types of metal pots and pans are two-handled pans, one-handled pans (including frying pans), milk pans and kettles. 3). Aluminum and stainless steel products account for over 90% of the kitchenware and tableware imported (including pots and pans). Imports over the past few years have been as follows:
Units: million yen (value), tons (quantity) Source: Japan Trade Monthly Imports registered a record high, both in terms of value and quantity, in 2001. Growth in imports of stainless steel products was especially strong, with the quantity of stainless steel products approaching that of aluminum ones. Imports of aluminum products fell following revelations in the media in autumn 1996 concerning its links with Alzheimerfs disease. As the recession has continued, however, concern over Alzheimerfs has abated, and renewed interest in the low cost and weight and high thermal conductivity of aluminum products have caused imports to recover in both value and quantity. Imports of enameled iron products had been gradually declining, but imports of high-end European products have increased and imports have risen since 1999. Imports of copper products, however, continue to fall. 4). The main sources of imports over the past two years for each of the materials used were as follows:
Unit: million yen Source: Japan Trade Monthly
The bulk of imports of aluminum products are from South Korea. However, South Korean imports have been in decline in recent years, with Chinese imports taking their place. Imports of easy-to-store, highly functional high-end products with removable handles, meanwhile, are imported from France and other countries in the region. Aluminum Korean imports are generally one third of the price of Japanese products. Japanese manufacturers that established operations in Korea are shifting production to China and other parts of Asia because of the rocketing cost of labor. Outsourcing of production to Asia is also on the rise. Imports of stainless steel products from U.S.A. are falling, and imports of China rising in this area too. Most imports from China are outsourced or produced under develop-and-import schemes. As the export price of stainless steel material was considerably lower than the domestic selling price, there were complaints from domestic makers (mainly in the city of Tsubame in Niigata Prefecture), but domestic prices now appear to have drawn level with export prices. Domestically-made products are equivalent to around 10~20% of imports in value terms. 5). Exports of metal home-use vessels come to over \2 billion a year. Exports over the past years were as follows:
Units: million yen (value), tons (quantity) Source: Japan Trade Monthly 6). The main destinations of exports by type of material over the past two years were as follows:
Unit: million yen Source: Japan Trade Monthly 7). Metal home-use vessels are subject to the Food Sanitation Law when imported, and imports of any products that contain or to which adhere toxic or poisonous substances or that may otherwise be injurious to health are prohibited. For enameled iron products, there are strict standards laid down regarding the elution of lead and cadmium. Products must in addition be labeled in accordance with the Household Goods Quality Labeling Law and the Consumer Product Safety Law. 8). One recent development has been the appearance on the market of pots and pans with removable handles as described above, and the increasing popularity in Japan as well as Europe and North America of multilayered pans with three or five-layered bottoms of iron and aluminum, whose superior thermal conductivity is designed to make up for the poor thermal conductivity of stainless steel. Pots and pans coated with Teflon on the inside to prevent burning have also been on the market for quite some time. 9). Japanese manufacturers, much of whose business comes from handling imports, are seeking to restore their own production levels by using technologies not found in imports. Some, for example, are reentering production by making products such as shallow-drawn pans that are better for cooking boiled fish, pans for making stock targeted at gourmets, and specially processed aluminum teapots that appear at first glance to be made of tin. |
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