Japan 2 Ti Major Post Operating Loss for F2010

Japanese major 2 sponge titanium makers posted operating loss for fiscal 2010 ending March 2011 due to lower operating rate in early the year and higher depreciation despite of the recovering demand. They try to higher sales in fiscal 2011 while they face challenges including limited power availability and higher cost for ore and energy.

Osaka Titanium Technologies reported higher sales volume for the titanium unit in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009 due to strong demand for export to air plane and domestic demand for plant. The sales increased by 39.9% to 26.389 billion yen for the unit while the operating loss was 2.044 billion yen due to lower selling price, higher yen rate and higher cost.

The firm posted 3.15 billion yen of operating loss for polycrystalline silicon unit in fiscal 2010 due to lower sales and 1.119 billion yen of onetime loss for Amagasaki plant. The plant resumed the normal operation while Kishiwada plant started commercial operation in January.

The firm expects the sales increases by 37.9% to 36.4 billion yen for titanium unit and by 511% to 27.8 billion yen for polycrystalline silicon unit in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010. However, the titanium ore cost increased by 40% while cost increases for electricity and natural gas.

Toho Titanium posted 5.505 billion yen of net loss for fiscal 2010 due to lower selling price, higher yen rate and higher depreciation while the sales increased by 29.7% to 28.135 billion yen when the firm launched new plant in Kitakyushu. The firm failed to disclose the profit target for fiscal 2011.

The firm reported 44% higher sales for titanium unit in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009 due to higher sales for titanium sponge and ingot. The new plant started the commercial operation while Chigasaki plant increased the production. The electronic materials unit reported higher sales and lower profit due to lower sales of propylene polymerization catalyst, higher yen rate and higher cost despite of higher sales for high purity titanium dioxide and ultra fine nickel powder.