Furukawa Battery Raises Overseas Sales Rate to 30% by F2013

Furukawa Battery plans to raise its overseas sales rate to above 30% by output capacity expansion at offshore affiliates and other business reinforcement measures during the next mid-term management plan for fiscal 2011-2013 ending in March 2014. Domestic battery demand is forecasted not to grow so largely in future. The firm seeks the next sales growth in overseas market.

Furukawa Battery’s 6-month overseas revenue was 4.666 billion yen for April-September 2010 and the overseas sales rate was 23.6%. The sales stand on Thai subsidiary, Siam Furukawa, or license fees from licensees in the U.S.A. and India.

Siam Furukawa keeps steady operation to meet favorable demand for batteries mainly in Southeast Asia. Furukawa Battery plans to implement capital expenditure for the charging process of Siam Furukawa within fiscal 2011 and raise the subsidiary’s output capacity of automotive battery by 50% to 3 million units per year.

Meanwhile, Furukawa Battery is talking with PINACO, Vietnamese national battery maker, to conclude a licensing agreement. Two companies are expected to conclude a licensing contract for motorcycle battery in fiscal 2011 or later.

Furukawa Battery plans to increase the stuff number for overseas business by 5 times to 50 people toward fiscal 2013. For a longer term by fiscal 2020, the firm aims to increase the staff number to 100 and to raise the overseas sales rate to 60%.