Sumitomo Osaka eyes 20% rise in operating profit on Olympic boost

Sumitomo Osaka eyes 20% rise in operating profit on Olympic boost
26 February 2014


Sumitomo Osaka Cement expects to generate consolidated operating profit of JPY25bn (US$241.57m) by fiscal 2016 by benefitting from increased construction demand for projects related to the 2020 Olympics, a Nikkei Report stated quoting company President Fukuichi Sekine. This would mark a 20 per cent jump from the current fiscal year's expected profit of JPY21bn.

Tokyo’s success in being awarded for the 2020 Olympics is expected to become a positive catalyst for cement demand. The government has promised to keep costs down by using as many as 15 “legacy” buildings, including three built for the 1964 Games also hosted in the Japanese capital. It is still building 22 more sites at an estimated cost of US$3.1bn.

To keep apace with expected gains in cement demand and improve its distribution capabilities, Sumitomo Osaka is due to launch a 8000t carrier shortly, and three more vessels are to be added started in 2015. Although it plans to retire two older ships, its fleet will expand from 19 with a total capacity of 82,000 tons at the end of last year to 21 and nearly 97,000t by the end of fiscal 2015.

Sumitomo Osaka Cement, which ranks third in terms of domestic capacity behind Taiheiyo Cement and Mitsubishi Materials, operates four plants with a clinker capacity of 8.1Mta.

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