Message from the President

Thank you for your continued support of Uyemura.

I would now like to make a few comments about our operating environment before reporting on Uyemura’s results for the first half of the 97th fiscal term (April 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024).

During the first half, the Japanese economy continued to recover at a moderate pace as employment and personal income improved and earnings remained high at many companies. However, there are many events in the world that must be watched closely, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S.-China trade friction and uncertainty about the Chinese economy. In Japan, the labor shortage is becoming even worse as the population ages and declines. In this environment, technological advances, investments in people and other actions to boost productivity have become even more important for the success of business operations.

In the electronic device market, which is the Uyemura Group’s main market area, there is firm demand for semiconductor and electronic components used in smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Furthermore, demand for these components is growing rapidly for use in servers for data centers and artificial intelligence. In the automobile industry, the number of semiconductor and electronic components used continues to climb due to the increasing number of vehicles equipped with the Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS), advances with the IoT and other progress. As a result, first half sales and profits were higher than one year earlier with the support of strong demand for surface finishing chemicals required for fabricating semiconductor and electronic components.

There is considerable uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy involving the new U.S. president, conflicts in many regions of the world, environmental policies in Europe and a possible slowdown of the Chinese economy. Despite this uncertainty, there are expectations for a continuation of the solid growth of the demand for semiconductor and electronic components, which is the primary market for the Uyemura Group.

To achieve our goal of consistent growth in the 21st century, we will continue to work on issues that need to be addressed and use the collective strengths of our group for building a framework that can quickly adapt to changes in our business climate. Accomplishing our goal will also require placing priority on innovation at the factory level to become even more competitive.

We ask for your continued support. Thank you.

November 2024