News Room 2013 (The former Furukawa-Sky)
2013 President's New Year's Greetings (summary)
January 4, 2013
I would like to wish everyone a happy new year.
Looking back upon last year, we see that although the Obama administration in the US won reelection, leadership changed in other countries, including China, France, Russia and South Korea. Broad leadership changes also took place in Japan at the end of last year. Future changes in the political leadership of countries around the world could result in a different global political landscape then we have seen up to now. In addition, the European currency crisis, which began in Greece, is turning into a long-term cause of dysfunction in the economies of European nations. These and other factors are resulting in the serious possibility that the strong growth rates we have seen in the emerging economies, including the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), will not be sustainable.
At the same time, we cannot avoid the strong trend toward diminishing demand in Japan caused by the population decrease. Japanese companies, especially manufacturers, are also shifting to more competitive countries overseas because of factors such as the strong yen and the spike in electricity prices. Because globalization has advanced in this way, we must survive an even more chaotic future global economy and the business environment it presents.
Amidst these developments, our Group proceeded with the sheet rolling business structural reforms announced in 2009, and discontinued the upstream processes (casting, hot rolling and cold rolling) at the Nikko Works in October of last year.
Also, we partially altered our plans for the construction of a comprehensive rolling mill in Thailand, the construction of which in response to growth in overseas markets we announced in 2011, so that the mill will now have four hot rolling lines. We are taking similar measures at our main plant, the Fukui Works, for enhanced, full-scale rolled aluminum production capacity, and work is underway for that to come online during the next fiscal year.
While we continue to prepare as necessary to compete overseas, as we announced in August of last year we have entered into a basic integration agreement with Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd. with the aim of building a solid structure in the Japanese market. The proper execution of this plan henceforth is a must.
We are currently faced with a tough economic environment, and have announced broadly lower second-quarter results. We must achieve our forecast full-year results, which we have adjusted downward, because they constitute a promise made to our stakeholders, including our shareholders.
In light of the above, we have created the following slogan for 2013:
Fulfill Our Tasks Through Increased Speed And Quality, And Move To Our Next Stage
We will meet our many tasks by increasing our speed so we are second to none of our global competitors, and do our utmost to hammer out high-quality solutions.
Operating under this slogan, our areas of emphasis in 2013 are as follows:
- Maximum customer satisfaction
- Thorough compliance, safety, concern about the environment, and quality
- Enhanced domestic and international competitiveness