Showa Denko Expects Profit Recovery for Al Business in 2H08

Showa Denko expects profit recovery of its aluminium business unit in the second half of 2008. The firm posted consolidated operating profit at 700 million yen for the aluminium and other business unit in the first half of 2008, down by 3.4 billion yen compared with the same period of 2007. The firm estimates the operating profit could reach 3.5 billion yen through a full year when the firm tries to improve profitability by price hike and other management efforts despite of high material and fuel costs.Showa Denko’s aluminium sales volume decreased by 10% to 39,404 tonnes in 1H08 compared with 1H07. The sales decreased by 31.1% to 5,771 tonnes for flat products, by 2.5% to 22,889 tonnes for extrusions and by 10.1% to 10,744 tonnes for foils. The demand was stagnant from construction market. The sales also declined from automobiles such for heat exchangers, castings and forgings. The foil sales maintained stable for high-purity foils applied to capacitors while decreased by 2-digit due to withdrawal from the general foil business.