Nippon Foil Mfg to Hike Rolling Charge by 7-10%

Nippon Foil Mfg announced on Tuesday the firm increases the rolling charge for aluminium foil products for April shipment. The firm increases the charge by 7-9% or 50-70 yen per kilogram for plain foil and foil for electrolytic capacitor while the firm increases the charge by 10% for processed foil including press through package foil and commodity products. The firm tries to pass higher cost for energy, rolling oil, subsidiary materials and freight for better profitability. The firm announced 70 yen per kg of price hike in March 2007 and the firm said the market accepted around 80% of the hike. The firm has tried to reduce production cost through companywide effort including shutdown of branch office and effort for better yield. However, the firm cannot cover extremely high oil price while the firm has to improve the facility to meet demand for higher quality. The firm decided the additional hike to secure profitability for reproduction and to keep stable supply. The firm expects the domestic foil demand cannot increase widely due to peaking population and competition with other materials while the firm expects demand growth for electrolytic capacitor. The firm tries to improve the profitability and cost structure to improve the competitiveness.