Amatsuji Doubling Ceramic Ball Output

Amatsuji Steel Ball Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Japan; a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSK Ltd., Japan; TSE1: 6471) announced aggressive production expansion plans, running through 2010.

Founded in 1920, Amatsuji initially manufactured loose balls for bicycle applications. It started manufacturing precision bearing balls in 1933 under the AKS brand. Annual sales are in the neighborhood of ¥22 billion (USD $180 million).

In late 2005, NSK Ltd. made a run at 22%-owned Amatsuji, in which it owned a minority stake. In March 2006, AKS was delisted from the Tokyo exchange and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSK.

Amatsuji's home office and main plant Kadoma City, Osaka. But it has several other plants and joint ventures around the world, including three more in Osaka; Omi-Hachiman City, Shiga; Clarinda, Iowa; Peterlee, UK; Bekasi, Indonesia; Zarow, Poland; and Hangzhou, China.

Ceramic balls are produced at the main plant in Osaka, for NSK and the world market. Sizes offered range from 1mm through 50mm. Ceramic ball output will more than double, to ¥1 billion ($8.3 million) under the investment program, reportedly budgeted at ¥300 million ($2.5 million) through 2010. The primary investment will be in specialized ball polishing equipment, doubling the number of polishers from 25 to 50.

Amatsuji said demand for precision ceramic balls is growing faster than production can keep up. Automotive applications are a key demand sector, for not just bearings but also fuel injector regulator valves, and active valve lash adjusters in variable valve timing applications.

The fastest growing demand, however, comes from the wind energy sector in Europe. Bearings used in wind turbines often use ceramic balls to avoid damage to the raceways from metal-to-metal arcing through the balls, a common problem in that application.

Wind turbine bearing balls are also the largest, at 50mm, and the most profitable.

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