Ahresty to Integrate 2 Domestic Die Casting Plants along Demand Shrinkage

Ahresty announced on Thursday the firm integrates Hamamatsu plant in Shizuoka, Japan and Toyohashi plant in Aichi, Japan by March 2013 and reorganizes into tentatively named Tokai plant. Tokai plant will be based on Toyohashi plant and the production capacity of aluminium die casting will be around 60% of the sum of Hamamatsu and Toyohashi. Ahresty optimizes domestic operations in response to demand shrinkage for aluminium die casting in Japan.

Ahresty plans to send surplus die casting machines to overseas plants from Hamamatsu and Toyohashi. The firm will ensure employment for integrated 2 plants’ employees at Tokai plant and other group companies. Optimizing cost will be generated from the sales of Hamamatsu plant site.

Domestic demand for aluminium die casting decreased to 840,000 tonnes in fiscal 2009 ended in March 2010 from the peak of 1.13 million tonnes in fiscal 2007 since Japanese automakers reduced car productions after Lehman Shock. Automakers are intensively increasing local procurement of automotive components at overseas. Thus Japanese die casting market is forecasted to shrink more.

On the other hand, demand for aluminium die casting is expected to increase in emerging countries such as China, Mexico and India where Ahresty operates offshore plants. Ahresty has recently transferred surplus die casting machines from domestic plants to overseas plants in order to improve global productivity and strengthen competitiveness.