Tsubakimoto Chain: New Tensioner Production Building Completed in 2019, but the New Coronavirus Caused a Decline in Demand in 2020

Tsubakimoto Chain has mainly four operations: chain, power transmission units and components, automotive parts, and materials handling systems. In the automotive parts section, the company aims to maintain and further expand its top global market share for timing chain systems. In 2019, the Saitama mother factory was reorganized to improve productivity. At the site, a new tensioner production factory building was built in July, and mass production of products begun in December. Tsubakimoto Chain expects demand growth in next-gen vehicles with combustion engines, such as HEVs and PHEVs, while it also prepares for a case in which demand in combustion engines shrinks and EVs become mainstream in the future. In recent years, the supplier has launched a new chain series for EVs, called Enedrive Chain, and a V2X-compatible V2G/EVSE charging system.

Consolidated sales of FY2019 were 226.4 billion JPY (declined 5.1% year-on-year), and the operating income was 16.2 billion JPY (declined 25.9% year-on-year). In the automotive parts section, the sales in FY2019 decreased by 10.2% year-on-year to 71 billion JPY, and the operating income fell by 33.7% to 5.8 billion JPY. The main reason for this drop was a decline in demand due to the new coronavirus spread around the world, making all manufacturers' factory operations suspended for a while. Sales in the automotive parts section in April 2020 are below the monthly average in 2019, and it is assumed that the FY2020 financial results will also be significantly affected.