Japan Major Al Re-rollers Post Operating Losses for Fiscal 1H

Japanese major aluminium re-rollers, except for non-listed Mitsubishi Aluminum, were suffered from operating losses in the half-year financial results for April-September 2009, though Kobe Steel’s aluminium & copper business unit secured operating profit. Demand for rolled aluminium products bottomed out but stayed even lower than the same period of fiscal 2008. Re-rollers’ profitability significantly worsened along stagnant market. For a full fiscal year ending in March 2010, re-rollers expect for revenue and profit recovery by their cost cut efforts.

Nippon Light Metal posted operating loss for the sheet & extrusion division and the building material division for April-September 2009. Profits widely shrank for the aluminium ingot & chemical division and the fabricated product division. The firm narrowed operating loss for the building material division to 2.2 billion yen by significant optimization measures.

Kobe Steel’s aluminium & copper unit saved slight operating profit for April-September 2009 thanks to steady demand for beverage can material and sales recovery for copper sheet and strip applied to electronic appliances. Meanwhile, the sales of rolled aluminium products for liquid crystal panel or semiconductor manufacturing equipment maintained low.

Sumitomo Light Metal Industries was suffered from totally stagnant demand except for can material. The firm targets full-year operating profit at 6 billion yen for fiscal 2009.

Furukawa-Sky Aluminum’s sales volume shrank by 25% for sheet, extrusion, casting and forging for April-September 2009 from the same period of fiscal 2008. The sales decreased year-to-year for can material and plate supplied to wholesalers and IT related industries. The firm implements optimization mainly for the sheet rolling business to improve profitability.

Showa Denko’s sales of high purity aluminium foil, used for capacitors, recovered for April-September compared with January-March. Heat exchanger business also recovered along automobile market upturn. Demand for aluminium can was steady. On the other hand, extrusion business maintained sluggish. The firm will restructure the business in the second half of fiscal 2009.