Employing advanced metal fabrication technology cultivated over the years of business, the Company has become a global supplier of copper foils for FPC, our mainstream product used in flexible circuit boards, as well as of precision Cu alloy products including titanium copper, Corson alloy, and phosphor bronze - all used in connectors and other parts. We are also engaged in precious metal plating and stamping, as well as other processes, on a global scale.
Hyakuno Manabu
Director and Senior Executive Officer, General Manager, Functional Materials Division, Senior Executive Staff, Technology Group
JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rapid changes in lifestyles including the spread of working from home and online education that have led to significantly increased demand in the core markets for our products, particularly in the fields of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs, and in communication infrastructure including base stations and data centers. Also, the first half of fiscal 2020 saw a drop in demand in the sales environment for devices used in automobiles but this recovered in the second half of the year, meaning this performed well overall.
In June 2020 we completed our investment into increased production of rolled copper foils and copper alloys that had been underway since fiscal 2017, and by starting full-scale operation, have responded to the current expansion in demand and thus achieved increased production and sales. In response to future growth in demand, we will achieve further improvements in efficiency and productivity, and by bolstering Group manufacturing facilities, will increase manufacturing capacity at each of the Group's sites thus expanding our production structures and strengthening our business foundations.
Hyakuno Manabu
Director and Senior Executive Officer, General Manager, Functional Materials Division, Senior Executive Staff, Technology Group
JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
Demand for our advanced functional materials has remained strong from fiscal 2020 centered around the electronic device market and communications infrastructure market, and sales have remained strong going into fiscal 2021. The current expansion in demand is significantly advancing the development of the IoT/AI society, and this is expected to further accelerate in conjunction with the further full-scale deployment of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems which had been delayed as a result of trade friction between the U.S. and China.
In a society in which we need to achieve SDGs and become carbon neutral, we expect to see expanded demand for new applications such as the NEV market, recycling, and energy-savings, requiring more sophisticated and diverse materials characteristics. As a company, we will continue with the development of markets and technologies that anticipate changes in market needs, and strive to further bolster our production systems to address this growing demand.
In order to respond to growth in demand for advanced functional materials, Muroran Copper Alloy Co., Ltd. was established in August 2019 jointly with The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. within The Japan Steel Works Muroran Plant, and the installation of a melting and casting furnace was completed in September 2021. This joint venture will increase the Group's production capacity of hard copper alloys such as titanium copper and Corson alloys, and by integrating the steel melting technology and copper alloy manufacturing technologies from the two companies, will contribute to improvements in production technologies for copper alloy materials.
Looking forward, we will continue with the development of technologies that factor in dynamic expansion of capabilities and requirements, and by supplying the advanced functional materials required to achieve and develop our data-driven society, will contribute towards achieving the SDGs propounded by the United Nations.
Muroran Copper Alloy, Co., Ltd. Melting furnace
