The global market size of the cutting tool industry, known as' industrial teeth ', is close to $40 billion. In recent years, with the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, the application of hard alloy indexable cutting tools has become increasingly widespread, and the demand for blades has rapidly increased.

     Recently, the Secretariat of the Tool Branch of the China Machine Tool Industry Association organized and analyzed the import and export data of customs blades from 2019 to 2022. According to customs data, the association calculated and analyzed the total import and export volume of blades, coated blade import and export, non coated blade import and export, blade import and export unit price, source of coated blade import and export, and source of non coated blade import and export.

    The total import amount of blades is much greater than that of exports

    According to data from the Tool Branch of the China Machine Tool Industry Association, from 2019 to 2022, the import of coated blades remained at 800 tons, 100 million pieces, with a total value of 3 billion yuan, or around 30 yuan per piece. The production and sales of coated blades (CNC blades) in China have increased from 250 million pieces in 2019 to nearly 600 million pieces in 2022, with a unit price of around 7 yuan per piece for domestic sales. Domestic blades have made significant progress in replacing imports.

     Data shows that the export of coated blades has increased significantly, with the export value increasing from RMB 774 million in 2019 to RMB 1.346 billion in 2022, an increase of 74%; The export volume increased from 89 million pieces in 2019 to 130 million pieces in 2022, an increase of nearly 50%. The export unit price of coated blades is 9-10 yuan.

     The improvement of blade product level is not only the basis for replacing imports, but also the ability to expand exports. With the continuous expansion of production capacity and the continuous improvement of technological level, the upgrading of blade exports will become an inevitable trend for the healthy development of the industry.

      The China Machine Tool Industry Association believes that the total import volume of blades in China is far greater than that of exports, but the gap is gradually narrowing. The total import and export volume of blades decreased by 38% from 3.4 times in 2019 to 2.1 times in 2022;

Another set of data shows that although the unit price of blade imports is much higher than that of exports, the gap is gradually narrowing. The unit price of imported coated blades has slightly decreased, from RMB 3690 per kilogram in 2019 to RMB 3602.88 in 2022, a decrease of 2.4%; The unit price of exported coated blades has significantly increased, from 1095 yuan per kilogram in 2019 to 1295.36 yuan in 2022, an increase of 18%. The unit price ratio of imports and exports decreased from 3.37 times in 2019 to 2.78 times in 2022, a decrease of 18%. The unit price of imported non coated blades has significantly decreased, while the unit price of exported non coated blades has significantly increased. The unit price ratio of imports and exports decreased by 58% from August 28, 2019 to March 31, 2022.

     According to reporters, blade imports mainly come from eight countries: Japan, Germany, Sweden, Israel, the United States, South Korea, India, and Thailand. In terms of importing coated blades, Japan surpassed Germany and Sweden to become the first country in 2022. Japan has always ranked first in the import of non coated blades, accounting for about 70%.

     The domestic production of coated blades has exceeded that of imports

     According to customs data, in 2019, China imported 799 tons of coated blades, estimated at 8 grams per blade, which is approximately 100 million pieces. In 2022, China imported 883 tons of coated blades, estimated at 8 grams per blade, which is approximately 110 million pieces. Exporting 1039 tons of coated blades, estimated at 8 grams per blade, is approximately 130 million pieces. In 2022, China will have 600 million CNC blades, minus 130 million exported blades and 470 million domestically sold blades. The domestic market share of Chinese blades is 81%, an increase of 19.5 percentage points compared to 2019, and the import quantity is 19%. That is to say, in 2022, the number of CNC blades in the Chinese market is far greater than that of imports. However, due to a unit price difference of more than three times, the value of domestic blades is equivalent to that of imported ones.

China's CNC blades are cheap and high-quality, making great contributions to improving efficiency in the manufacturing industry.

     Association experts say that China's CNC blade industry, especially mainstream enterprises, needs to continue to overcome difficulties and accelerate the localization of high-end blades. On the other hand, the industry should improve the level of exported blades and accelerate their export layout. It is believed that while localization occurs, blade exports will soon open up new prospects.

     Accelerated localization process of hard alloy blades

     In 2019, the domestic brand share of coated blades in China was 61.5%, and in 2022 it was 81%, an increase of 19.5 percentage points compared to 2019. The localization of blades has made significant progress. Key user industries focus on the independent and controllable industrial chain, providing a rare opportunity for the localization of high-end blades.

     The core competitiveness of Chinese hard alloy blades in the global industry is rapidly improving. From 2019 to 2022, the export value of coated blades increased by 74%, and the export volume increased by 50%. While replacing imports, it provides capacity guarantee for expanding exports. Upgrading China's blade exports is imperative. As China moves from a tungsten resource powerhouse to a tungsten industry powerhouse, hard alloy blades will become increasingly powerful.

     According to relevant data, currently, blades in China are mainly mid to low-end products or widely used general products. In the high-end field, imported blades still account for a large share, but the demand for high-end blades in China's manufacturing industry upgrade will further increase.

At present, mainstream blade enterprises are further increasing their research and development efforts in the field of mid to high-end blades and supporting technologies. The research and development of supporting tool handles and discs are also actively laying out, and tool usage technology is fully valued. It is expected that significant progress will be made in overcoming difficulties in mid to high-end products. Experts say that policy guidance such as strengthening tungsten resource control in China is also driving the upgrading of blade products. The only way for industrial development is for hard alloy blades to move towards the mid to high end.