Nippon Light Metal Lowers Sales Target for F2009

Nippon Light Metal revised the sales plan for fiscal 2009 ending March 2010 downward from original plan in May. The firm expects lower sales for aluminium flat, extrusion and alloy ingot products when the demand could slow down for automobile and information technology industry in second half of fiscal 2009.

The firm plans 71,100 tonnes of aluminium flat products sales for fiscal 2009, which is 5% lower than fiscal 2008 and 18,600 tonnes lower than original plan. The firm plans 33,000 tonnes of extrusion sales by the subsidiary, Nikkeikin Aluminium Core Technology, which is 14% lower than fiscal 2008 and 3,600 tonnes lower than original plan.

Nippon Light Metal plans 211,300 tonnes alloy ingot sales by the subsidiary, Nikkei MC Aluminium, which is 6% lower than fiscal 2008 and 9,700 tonnes lower than original plan. Nippon Light Metal expects the alloy ingot sales will increase by 8% to 80,400 tonnes in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008 while the domestic sales will decrease by 13% to 130,900 tonnes.

The sales decreased by 27% to 33,400 tonnes for flat products in first half of fiscal 2009 from same period of fiscal 2008. The sales decreased by 37% to 15,400 tonnes for extrusion and by 27% to 102,300 tonnes for alloy ingot. The alloy ingot sales decreased by 29% to 65,900 tonnes for domestic market and by 23% to 36,400 tonnes for offshore market.

The group 4 companies posted loss in first half of fiscal 2009. Shin Nikkei posted 2.4 billion yen of operating loss while the firm tries to improve the profitability through restructuring and job cut. Nikkei MC Aluminium posted 1 billion yen of operating loss due to lower automobile demand. Nikkeikin Aluminium Core Technology posted 300 million yen of operating loss due to slow demand for truck parts.