According to the "European Rubber Journal" report, Japan's Tokai Carbon Group released its performance report for the first half of this year, showing that carbon black and other core businesses performed strongly and operating profits increased significantly. As of August 8, the group's operating profit increased by 30% year-on-year to 21.7 billion yen (equivalent to 136 million euros), and sales increased by 14% to 178 billion yen.
The performance report pointed out that Tokai Tanso Group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 19%. Although it was slightly less than 40 billion yen, it still showed a steady growth trend.
Although total sales were 10% lower than the earlier estimate of 198 million yen, operating profit increased 8.7% from the May estimate. Donghai Carbon Group believes that this growth in operating income and profits is mainly due to "the steady growth of various main businesses with carbon black as the core and the increase in foreign exchange earnings."
In the carbon black business unit, sales in the first half of the year increased by 15% year-on-year to 74 billion yen, and operating profit more than doubled to 10.7 billion yen. Tokai Carbon pointed out that sales of carbon black for tires remained at the same level year-on-year "despite the impact of production adjustments by some customers." The group added that, particularly in North America, productivity improvements and the pass-through of environmental investment costs helped boost sales and operating profit. At the same time, the group adopted an "appropriate price increase" approach to reflect the increase in environmental investment and raw material costs, thereby increasing profit margins.
Although demand for carbon black in the replacement tire market is growing slowly, especially in the replacement tire segment for trucks and buses, demand for carbon black is recovering in the original equipment tire market for new cars. Tokai Carbon Group believes that although it is "uncertain" in the short term whether the demand for carbon black in the replacement tire market can recover, "supply and demand in the United States and other markets are more balanced" and it is more optimistic about the medium-term development prospects.
Overall, Tokai Carbon Group achieved significant performance results in the first half of the year, demonstrating the steady growth momentum of its core business and its confidence in the future market.