Titanium, a light, strong metal resistant to corrosion, has wide-ranging uses, from aircraft to desalination plants, electric power plants, and other applications. Group company Toho Titanium Co., Ltd. is engaged in the smelting of titanium, and leverages related materials and technologies to manufacture such products as catalysts (for propylene polymerization) and chemicals (e.g. materials for electrodes and dielectrics in multilayer ceramic capacitors).
Sales of titanium were significantly higher than the previous year due to a recovery in passenger demand for aircraft applications, replacement demand for Russian-made mill products, and steady sales of high-purity titanium for general industrial and semiconductor applications. Profits increased compared to the previous year despite higher costs due to soaring prices of imported raw materials, electricity, and supplementary materials. This improvement was due to price adjustments by some customers, an increase in shipment volume resulting from inventory shipments, and an increase in export revenues due to the weaker yen. One-time positive factors such as the payout and reversal of inventories manufactured before the cost increase also had a positive impact. Sales volume in the catalyst business decreased from the previous year due to softening demand for polyolefin catalysts in Asia, mainly resulting from the economic slowdown in China. Sales volume in the chemical business decreased from the previous year due to lower demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), which are the main application for ultra-fine nickel powder, our mainstay product. This lower demand is a result of the economic stagnation caused by the rising interest rates in the U.S. and the lockdowns in China.
We expect titanium sales to remain firm due to a recovery in demand for titanium in aircraft applications and continued demand to replace Russian-made wrought products. On the other hand, we expect sales in the catalyst and the chemical businesses to remain soft for the time being, as we anticipate that it will take more time to see a full-fledged economic recovery in China and other countries. We expect profits to be significantly pressured in the titanium business, despite price corrections. Impacts include the disappearance of one-time positive factors that manifested themselves in the previous year, such as the reversal of inventories with low manufacturing costs, as well as the full-scale disbursement of products with high manufacturing costs from the second half of fiscal 2022.
THC catalyst (Toho High Efficiency Catalyst) is the mainstay product of the catalyst business of Toho Titanium Co., Ltd. This catalyst is a unique high-performance catalyst used in the production of polypropylene and is a magnesium-titanium type called a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Polypropylene has a wide range of applications, including automotive interiors and exteriors, home appliances, packaging materials, and food containers. Toho Titanium Co., Ltd. develops, manufactures, and sells environmentally friendly catalysts to respond the urgent need to address environmental issues, such as stricter regulations on chemical substances.
New catalyst production facility at the Chigasaki Plant (Kanagawa Prefecture)
