Rising Energy Costs and Volatility in Raw Material Prices

「The business environment surrounding our group contains many uncertainties, including soaring raw material prices and energy costs, geopolitical risks including the situation in the Middle East, and unstable foreign exchange movements, and is expected to remain challenging.」

「Looking ahead, we expect uncertainty to persist due to continued inflation, developments in U.S. trade policy, higher raw material and energy prices resulting from the situation in the Middle East, and volatility in the financial and capital markets.」

「During the interim consolidated accounting period under review, Japan’s economy remained on a gradual recovery track as employment and income conditions improved. However, corporate earnings, particularly in the automobile industry, showed signs of stalling due to the impact of U.S. trade policy. The outlook remains uncertain due to downside risks to the economy arising from uncertainty over future policy developments, continuing geopolitical risks including the prolonged situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, and rising raw material prices.」

「The business environment surrounding our group contains many uncertainties, including rising energy costs, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, and market fluctuations in raw material prices, and is expected to remain challenging.」

「The outlook for the economy is difficult to assess due to the continued depreciation of the yen resulting from monetary tightening in response to global inflation, soaring raw material prices, and the prolonged elevation of geopolitical risks.」

「The outlook for the economy is difficult to assess due to the continued depreciation of the yen resulting from monetary tightening in response to global inflation, soaring raw material prices, and the prolonged elevation of geopolitical risks.」

「Net sales were ¥10,517 million, up 0.2% year on year, while operating profit was ¥2,178 million, down 2.0% year on year, due to the impact of soaring raw material prices.」

「As a result, during the cumulative third quarter under review, our group reported net sales of ¥31,094 million, up 14.0% year on year, due to the impact of translating foreign-currency-denominated sales resulting from the weaker yen. Although raw material prices and utility costs increased, the rise in net sales contributed to operating profit of ¥6,435 million, up 59.6% year on year.」

「During the cumulative second quarter under review, consumption and investment expanded as governments made progress in balancing measures to prevent COVID-19 with economic activity. However, the global economy remained unstable due to automobile production cuts caused by semiconductor shortages, soaring raw material prices, and the prolonged invasion of the Republic of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.」

「The global situation remained unstable, with prolonged military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in addition to production cuts by automakers due to the resurgence of infectious diseases and the global semiconductor shortage, as well as continued surging raw material prices and procurement concerns.」

「Most of the raw materials used by our group are derived from crude oil. Crude oil prices fluctuate for various reasons, including conditions in the Middle East, the balance between supply and demand, and changes in foreign exchange rates. Higher raw material prices resulting from a rise in crude oil prices affect our group’s business performance.」

「Overseas, demand is recovering as economic activity gradually resumes following COVID-19 restrictions. However, uncertainty about the outlook remains high due to disruptions in logistics, particularly maritime transport; difficulties in procuring raw materials caused by price increases and insufficient supply in response to stronger demand; and production restrictions at customers in China due to concerns over energy and environmental issues.」

「In the global economy, economic recovery was seen in the United States and Europe, where COVID-19 vaccination programs were ahead of Japan, while shortages of raw materials, the impact of surging procurement prices, and continued trade friction between the United States and China persisted.」

「The impact of abnormal weather in the United States has begun to emerge, including a sharp rise in raw material prices.」

「The main reason for the decline in operating profit was the decrease in gross profit margin resulting from higher raw material prices.」

「During the cumulative first quarter under review, the global economy contained risks of a slowdown amid concerns over economic deceleration in China and Europe, as well as political turmoil in the United States and Europe, the intensification of U.S.-China trade friction, and a further rise in crude oil prices. Profit margins also declined due to the impact of higher raw material prices.」

「Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately, supported by stable foreign exchange rates and improvements in corporate earnings and employment conditions. However, inbound consumption has slowed and personal consumption has remained sluggish. More recently, the impact of deteriorating earnings due to rising crude oil and naphtha prices has begun to emerge.」

「The operating environment surrounding our group contains many uncertainties, including rising energy costs and fluctuations in raw-material prices, and we expect difficult conditions to continue.」