Demand for Murata Manufacturing Co.’s lithium-ion batteries is so strong the Japanese firm can’t make enough of them for its own use. But inflated freight costs mean the business is likely to record a loss this year — yet another victim of the ongoing supply chain chaos.
The battery unit is unlikely to report a profit this fiscal year, after Murata resorted to transporting its products by air, President Norio Nakajima said in an interview. The company had previously pledged to turn the division around by March, ending a string of losses since it bought the business from Sony Group Corp. in 2017. Still, Murata is seeing rapid growth and plans to accelerate investment to beef up production capacity, Nakajima said.
"It might still be possible that our battery business posts a profit this term, but I believe I will probably need to apologize for a loss,” Nakajima said. "We are being forced to use airfreight to deliver our batteries because ships are unavailable, and that costs an outrageous amount of money. If we were able to use sea routes, we should be able to make a profit.”