Japan's three chemical giants Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan and Sumitomo Chemical jointly issued an announcement announcing the three-party polyolefin business integration plan

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Recently, Japan's three chemical giants Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan, and Sumitomo Chemical jointly issued an announcement announcing a tripartite polyolefin business integration plan, which has officially received antitrust approval from the Japan Fair Trade Commission. As early as September 10, 2025, the three companies reached a basic cooperation consensus and finalized the business integration framework. According to the plan, Sumitomo Chemical's polypropylene (PP) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE)-related businesses in Japan will be integrated into Prime Polymers, a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Kosan. This integration focuses on Japan’s local polyolefin track. The core purpose is to strengthen the risk resistance of the basic chemical industry chain, improve the local industrial raw material supporting system, and overall enhance the competitiveness of Japanese polyolefin products in the global market. On December 24, 2025, the three parties further signed a formal business integration and joint venture agreement, clarifying the implementation details such as cooperation model, asset transfer, and operational connection. In order to strictly comply with Japan's antitrust regulatory requirements, Prime Polymers and Sumitomo Chemical submitted an integration plan in accordance with regulations and completed the local compliance review process. Currently, the overseas antitrust review of the polyolefin business integration project is still progressing in an orderly manner. The three companies stated that they will wait for relevant parties around the world to * * After all approvals from competition regulators, the substantive implementation of business integration will be launched to promote the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure of Japan's chemical industry.