Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd (SEI) based in Itami, Japan, recorded a 16.7% increase in net sales to Yen 1,217 billion ($12.345 billion) for the first half (April to September) of its 2013/2014 financial year. Net income soared by 63% to Yen 25,803 billion ($261.7 million).

SEI’s “Industrial Materials & Others” division, which includes the production of cemented carbides, Powder Metallurgy parts, and the fully owned A.L.M.T. subsidiary which produces W, Mo, heavy metal, thermal management materials, ceramics, diamond tools and hardmetals, reported a 7% increase in first half year sales to Yen 147,187 ($1.493 billion).

PM part sales increased by 5.6% to Yen 24.2 billion ($245 million) whilst hardmetal sales increased by 13.1% to Yen 39.6 billion ($402 million). A.L.M.T. enjoyed an increase of 8.6% to Yen 20.2 billion ($205 million). Special steel wires made up the remaining Yen 35.5 million in this division of SEI.

SEI is forecasting a 22% increase in group sales for the whole of the current financial year to Yen 2,500 billion ($25.4 billion) and a 10.2% increase in full year sales for the Industrial Materials division. The company has expanded hardmetal production at its new factory in Hokkaido, Japan, with super efficient production lines for cemented carbide inserts, and began production of hardmetal cutting tools in Indonesia.

SEI has also established a manufacturing and marketing joint venture with WLK Group and Santini Group for sintered parts in Indonesia. A.L.M.T. is reported to be accelerating new product development in the electronics field, including precision diamond tools essential for semiconductor nano- and microprocessing.

The new diamond tools are made from ultra-fine high-hardness nano-polycrystalline diamonds using ultra-fine grains of several tens of nanometers. The diamond tools are produced using a new proprietary process involving ultra-high voltage.