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).
Toho Titanium Co., Ltd.
President & Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer
Yamao Yasuji
In the Titanium Business, demand recovered for aircraft applications after a sharp drop amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and there were also signs of recovery in demand for general industrial applications. Alongside solid demand for semiconductor applications, sales increased substantially from the previous fiscal year. However, with regard to profits, costs rose sharply due to soaring costs of raw material copper concentrates, secondary materials, and transportation costs, which continued to put significant pressure on margins. Sales in the catalyst business increased year on year due to strong demand for catalysts for propylene polymerization, a mainstay product. In the chemicals business, sales of our mainstay product of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), a major application for nickel powder, recovered from a COVID-19 pandemic-driven decline in demand, and sales were significantly higher than the previous year due to increased 5G communications and automotive-related demand.
Toho Titanium Co., Ltd.
President & Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer
Yamao Yasuji
In the Titanium Business, demand for high-purity titanium for general industrial applications and semiconductor applications is also expected to remain strong, as demand continues to increase on the back of the ongoing recovery in demand for aircraft applications, in addition to replacement demand in response to the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the supply chain. Since our titanium sponge facilities at sites in Japan are already utilizing nearly all of their production capacity, we will cope with the increase in demand by raising the production volume of our affiliated company, a titanium sponge manufacturing joint venture in Saudi Arabia. In the catalyst business, we expect demand for polypropylene to remain strong, and sales volume is expected to increase with the start of operations at a new plant in November 2022. In the chemicals business, though the current demand for MLCC is in a temporary adjustment phase due to the semiconductor shortage and buildup of distribution inventories, we expect this to gradually dissipate and the business to return to a growth trajectory.
Nickel powder is used as an internal electrode material in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC). Demand for nickel powder is increasing along with the growing demand for MLCC due to the increasing sophistication of electronic devices, advance of IoT, greater use of electrical equipment in automobiles, and the practical application of 5G. At Toho Titanium Co., Ltd., we built the new No. 4 nickel powder plant at the Wakamatsu Plant to strengthen the product's supply structure for use with low- and high-capacity MLCC, for which demand is expected to grow. Looking forward, we will target growth that beats the market.
New nickel powder plant at Wakamatsu Plant
