Denka rubber sales drop, full year outlook down

Tokyo – Japanese chemicals company Denka Corp. expects sales of its chloroprene rubber (CR) to fall “significantly” for the fiscal year 2019, due in part to weak global economy.

Income for the elastomers & performance plastics segment fell for the first nine months of the year, ending March 2020, due to lower CR sales volume, Denka said in its quarterly result 7 Feb.

The company did not offer a breakdown for rubber sales or profits, but said the decline in volume was due to the US-China trade war and weak global economy.

Additionally, Denka said it had to “downwardly revise” sales prices of styrene-based products in line with plunges in raw material prices.

For the fourth quarter, Denka said it expected the decline n CR sales volume to continue, leading to “a significant decline in terms of the full-year operating results.” 

“The US-China trade dispute continues to have negative effec. Moreover the outbreak of the new coronavirus is rapidly expanding, therefore the outlook of the global economy for the future is becoming even more uncertain,” Denka noted. 

Taking these factors into account, Denka said it expected that recovery in demand for CR and other offerings would “take some time.”