Japan 6 Rare Metal Firms Enjoy Favorable Results in F2006

Japanese 5 listed firms dealing with rare metals enjoyed favorable sales and profits in fiscal 2006 ended March 2007, with another listed rare metal company, Furuya Metal which posted good financial results in 9 months to March 2007. Rare metal demand maintained strong for electronic appliances and automobile related applications in fiscal 2006. The upsurge of rare metal prices also pushed up the profits of rare metal dealers and recycling firms. Rare metal manufacturers were suffered from higher material costs but they could pass the cost up on their selling prices during the fiscal term.Asahi Pretec Corporation, a rare metal recycling corporation, increased its collective volume of rare metal scrap from new customers dealing electronic materials in fiscal 2006. Alconix enjoyed large sales and profits growth at its subsidiary, Advanced Material Japan, a rare metal trader. AMJ posted net sales of 26.7 billion yen in fiscal 2006, up by 96% from fiscal 2005, with operating profit growth by 60%.Nippon Tungsten canceled the impact of material cost up such for tungsten and silver by sales volume expansion and productivity improvement. Toho Kinzoku increased the sales of tungsten fabricated products by 10% in fiscal 2006 compared with fiscal 2005.Nihon Seiko increased its antimony product sales volume by 8% in fiscal 2006 compared with fiscal 2005. Furuya Metal enjoyed active sales of iridium for artificial crystal processing, platinum for optical glass making and ruthenium target materials for hard disc drives.