J.P. Morgan: Japanese MLCC exports grow above seasonal norms: Taiwan demand stands out as automotive market remains weak

How strong was export growth in September?

In September 2026, Japan exported 540 million dollars worth of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), up 29% year on year and 17% month on month. Export volume was 102.284 billion units, up 5.5% year on year and 16% month on month.
Over the past 10 years, export value rose an average of 3.1% month on month in September, while volume rose 7.4%. Both measures clearly exceeded seasonal levels this year. A rebound after the August summer holidays contributed, and JPMorgan believes IT applications provided a further boost to export value.
The overall average export price in US dollars rose 22.2% year on year and 0.9% month on month. Export value grew faster than volume, indicating that a higher average price also contributed to export value growth.

JPMorgan uses trade data for major Asian IT application markets as an indicator of demand. In September, Japan's MLCC exports to these markets totaled 409.3 million dollars, up 35.5% year on year and 15.5% month on month, above the seasonal average month-on-month increase of 5.5% for the same period over the past 10 years.
Exports to Taiwan reached a record 98.2 million dollars, up 61.6% year on year and 14.3% month on month. Export volume fell 1.4% year on year, while the average price in US dollars rose 63.8%.
The bank believes Taiwan-related trade data helps gauge IT demand, particularly for AI; rising export value and average prices support its assessment that demand for AI applications is strong. Although the average price across IT-related markets rose 30.4% year on year, it fell 1.4% month on month in September.

Combined exports to Europe and the US, where automotive applications account for a relatively high share, totaled 71.3 million dollars in September. Although up 10.5% month on month, they were still down 7.6% year on year; the average export price fell 14.1% year on year.
JPMorgan observed that the overall export value trend in these markets was flat: the US was broadly stable, while Europe weakened slightly. By contrast, export value in IT-related markets continued to trend strongly upward.

Japan's average monthly MLCC export value in US dollars for the period from 7 to September was about 15% higher than in the period from 4 to June. On that basis, JPMorgan expects Japanese MLCC manufacturers' sales to grow quarter on quarter ahead of their second-quarter results announcements.
The bank believes progress in price negotiations by overseas manufacturers has increased the likelihood that Japanese manufacturers will begin raising prices. It maintains a positive view on Murata Manufacturing, Taiyo Yuden and TDK; the first two are its top MLCC picks.
Performance varied by production location: MLCC export value from South Korea, Thailand and China increased in September, while exports from Malaysia, where production is mainly by Taiyo Yuden, have been weak since June. JPMorgan uses exports from these locations as a reference for production trends at the respective factories.