Among the major corporate developments announced during the morning session, JX Metals decided to expand its production capacity for magnetic sputtering targets for HDDs to 1.5 times the 2025 level by mid-2029. Itochu Corporation is jointly developing dedicated insurance for robotaxis with MS&AD and aims to begin sales in the United States in fiscal 2027. NTT is deploying a cyberdefense system operated entirely in Japan from a data-sovereignty perspective. NS Solutions has partnered with US-based Anthropic and plans to begin selling AI agents externally. Hokushin revised its operating income for the first half to a profit. Hokkaido Electric Power announced a rate revision reflecting the review of wheeling charges, along with an upward revision to its full-year ordinary profit forecast.
JX Metals presented a plan to increase production capacity for magnetic sputtering targets for HDDs to 1.5 times the 2025 level by mid-2029, including the capacity expansion announced this year. The company said the aim is to respond to long-term demand growth against a backdrop of increasing data volumes at data centers.
Itochu Corporation has begun jointly developing dedicated insurance for robotaxis, and Nikkei reported that sales to operators of services in the United States are expected to begin as early as fiscal 2027. The company said it will establish a framework to cover accident-related losses involving autonomous vehicles, with the rollout of the insurance product expected to be a focus going forward.
NTT plans to expand the rollout of a cyberdefense system that completes AI data processing in Japan, establishing a system for diagnosing vulnerabilities without sending customer data to the United States. Efforts to address domestic data sovereignty are advancing.
NS Solutions has partnered with US-based Anthropic to roll out AI-powered business automation services. It plans initially to have AI agents automate production planning, purchasing and inventory management for Nippon Steel Corporation.
Hokushin raised its operating income forecast for the first half from a loss to a profit. The company expects to absorb rising costs against a backdrop of progress in price revisions and increased demand.
Hokkaido Electric Power filed a change to reflect the revised wheeling charges in electricity rates. In line with this, it raised its full-year ordinary profit forecast for fiscal 2027, the year ending March 2027, from the previous ¥30 billion to ¥46 billion.