Showa Denko’s Al Unit Plan 84% Higher Investment in 2011

Showa Denko’s aluminium unit plans 8.1 billion yen of investment to in 2011, which is 84% higher than 2010. The unit expands the output capacity of foil for electrolytic capacitor and aluminium cylinder for laser printer along with investment for better quality in order to expand the sales. The unit plans 7 billion yen of operating profit with 120 billion yen of sales in 2011 compared with 8.5 billion yen of operating profit with 130.1 billion yen of sales in proforma basis in 2010 due to sales of automotive heat exchanger business.

The unit’s investment represents around 13% of the company’s 62.8 billion yen of investment in 2011 while the unit’s investment was 4.4 billion yen of total 58 billion yen.

The firm has 45-46% of domestic market share for aluminium foil for electrolytic capacitor and apparently secures world top share in the market. The firm tries to expand the business to meet growing demand in the world. The firm has 55-56% world market share in aluminium cylinder for laser printer. The firm also expands the business when the demand increases for color printer.

The unit manager of Shunichi Shiraishi said the unit tries to secure stable profit by expanding the business at home and abroad during the 5-year plan started in 2011. The executive officer said the unit plans to make more than 3 billion units of aluminium can in 2011 as 2010 when the firm got record order last year.