Comprehensive list of Japanese chemical companies – feel free to add entries and rate them!

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Taiyo Oil of Japan It is reported that a spokesperson for Taiyo Oil said the company will carry out the expansion project for its aromatic compounds facility in Ehime in two phases. The spokesperson said the company is carrying out an expansion project for its 300,000 tons per year benzene plant, with plans to increase its production capacity by 20,000 tons per year. Phase 1 will be completed on October 15, 2004. The second phase of the project will involve installing a new reforming unit in the benzene and mixed xylene plants in Ehime in November; this is expected to increase the production capacity for both benzene and mixed xylene to 400,000 tons per year. The new device will come online in June or July 2006. 　　Taiyo Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (TPC), a subsidiary of Sun Oil Company, is considering expanding the production capacity of its styrene monomer (SM) plant in Yamaguchi from 294,000 tons per year to 350,000 tons per year, but a spokesperson for TPC said that this plan is still in the planning stage. 　　Sun Petrochemical Company was established at the beginning of this year, following Mitsui Chemicals’ agreement to transfer its styrene monomer business to a joint venture subsidiary of Sun Oil Company. Sun Oil holds 70.1% of the shares in the joint venture, Mitsui Chemicals holds 9.9%, and the remaining 20% will be held by third parties who have not yet been determined. Hitachi Chemical Co., Japan – Hitachi Chemical Co., Japan plans to increase the production capacity of polypropylene films used as adhesive coatings for protecting the surface of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels by 40% in November 2004. The company plans to invest 1 billion yen in its factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, to install a new production line. 　　This type of surface protection film is marketed under the brand HITALEX, and its sales account for 50% of the company’s total sales of surface protection films used primarily in the construction materials and automotive industries. The Tokyo-based company plans to reach sales of 10 billion yen for HITALEX films in fiscal year 2006, compared to 6 billion yen in fiscal year 2003. 　　HITALEX is primarily used to protect the optical panels of LCDs; it has a low coefficient of thermal expansion, which helps prevent the LCDs from being contaminated or scratched during transportation and processing. This film can adhere firmly to the uneven surface of optical plates, retaining its adhesion over a long period of time, and is very easy to remove. Korex Corporation of Japan: The Japanese chemical company Korex Corporation stated that it will increase its annual production capacity of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) by 24,000 tons. The project involves an investment of $150 million, with completion scheduled for March 2006; by then, the annual production capacity of EVOH at the company’s U.S. subsidiary will be close to 47,000 tons. This capacity expansion is primarily aimed at keeping up with the global growth in EVOH resins (Koreza’s EVOH product is named Eval). The average annual growth rate of demand for EVOH in Japan, Europe, and the United States is 10%, and due to improvements in lifestyle and living standards, demand in Asian countries is also expected to grow rapidly. 　　In addition to producing EVOH at its company in the United States, Kolon produces this material at Eval Europe in Belgium and at its factory in Okayama, Japan. The current total production capacity is 45,000 tons per year; with the expansion projects currently underway at Eval in the United States and Eval Europe, the company’s annual EVOH production capacity will reach 81,000 tons by 2006. Japanese Energy Company: The company’s plan to expand its petrochemical production capacity will focus on PX. Although this plan is only temporary, PX currently offers the highest profitability compared to other aromatic products. The company plans to build a new PX plant at its facility in Kashima or Chiba in 2006, thereby increasing its aromatic hydrocarbon production capacity by 50% to 1.5 million tons. Of this, the PX production capacity is set to increase by 70% to 1 million tons per year. The additional production capacity will be exported to China and Southeast Asia. 　　The investment cost for this expansion plan will be determined in the current fiscal year. The main aromatic compounds production facilities of Japanese energy companies are located in Chiba, where the annual PX production capacity is 380,000 tons. The Kajima plant, established in a joint venture with Tokyo Electric Power Company, Mitsubishi Chemical, Cosmo Oil Corporation, and others, has an annual PX production capacity of 150,000 tons. The company’s Mizushima plant also has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of pure benzene and 200,000 tons of isomerized mixed xylene. Toho Company of Japan: The PAN carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Tennessee, USA, Fortafil, was originally part of the British Acordis Group. Now, Toho Tenax Company, with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, has acquired this plant, thereby gaining a foothold in North America that will help it expand sales of its products in that region. 　　Tokubo Tenax Company sells carbon fiber and related products around the world, but it has factories only in Japan and Germany; it has no factories in North America, which is why its sales there are relatively weak. Tobu Tenax stated that it will restructure Fortafil’s operations within one year, converting the existing 3,500 tons of high-molecular-weight carbon fiber into 700 tons of fiber with normal molecular weight and 1,400 tons of oxidized PAN fiber; the production of the remaining 1,300 tons of high-molecular-weight fiber will continue as before. 　　Conventional fibers have high mechanical strength and can be used in aerospace, sports, and industrial fields. Products with high fiber content have low production costs and are widely used in industrial fields. Demand for carbon fiber is expected to continue growing, with Toho Tenax stating that the annual growth rate could reach around 10%. Tosoh Corporation of Japan: Tosoh intends to seek approval from the Chinese authorities first, and then begin construction of its PVC plant in Guangzhou by the end of 2004. Reports suggest that Toyo Soda Company will form a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation to build this facility with an annual production capacity of 110,000 tons, with Toyo Soda Company holding the majority share in the project. In May 2004, China issued a regulation imposing various restrictions on PVC projects that use ethylene as a raw material and have an annual production capacity of less than 200,000 tons. Market analysts believe that in order to obtain approval from the Chinese authorities, DongCao Company may apply to build a plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons, but will actually produce 110,000 tons of PVC per year. 　　A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the impact of the new regulations on its projects, but said that the factory would expand its capacity due to its initial limited production capacity. The project is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2006. The raw materials will be supplied by Toyo Kaisha, which plans to increase its production capacity of vinyl chloride monomer in Japan from the current 1.07 million tons per year to 1.4 million tons per year by the end of 2005, and further to 1.7 million tons per year by 2006. Teijin Corporation of Japan 1. Teijin Rayon Company of Japan Teijin Rayon Company plans to acquire a local U.S. carbon fiber company in the first quarter of next year. According to Teijin Corporation, this is part of their plan to expand production capacity in North America. Denki Company’s measures to strengthen its carbon fiber business include establishing production facilities in North America, as well as marketing its products in China and other Asian countries and regions. 　　The company estimates that the global carbon fiber market size will grow at an annual rate of 10%, reaching 20,000 tons per year by 2005. The manufacturing industry is the sector with the fastest-growing demand for carbon fiber, followed by the aerospace, sports, and entertainment industries. 　　2. Teijin’s Dutch subsidiary According to the British-Norwegian engineering company Aker Kvaerner on Tuesday, the company won a contract from Teijin Twaron for an expansion project of a high-performance fiber facility worth 5 million euros (6.2 million dollars); this facility is located in Emmen, the Netherlands. 　　Teijin Twaron is the Dutch subsidiary of the Japanese synthetic fiber manufacturer Teijin; the company previously said that the production capacity of its high-performance fiber facilities would increase by 5-10% from the current level of 18,500 tons per year. 　　The expansion work has already begun, with completion expected in September 2005. Under the contract, Kwanah Company will provide services such as engineering design, equipment supply, and construction supervision for the expansion. Kyushu Oil Company of Japan: Kyushu Oil Company of Japan stated that due to the rapid growth in demand for PX and pure benzene in Japan and China, the company plans to increase its production capacity for these two products. 　　The annual production capacity of pure benzene at Oita Kyushu Aromatics Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Kyushu and Nippon Steel Chemical, is planned to be increased from the current 50,000 tons to 130,000 tons. Construction on this project will begin in October this year, with operation scheduled to start in December; the investment amount for the project is 500 million yen. Japanese company O*rane: The PO production equipment at its Chiba plant has a capacity of 150,000 tons. Commercial production began in the spring of 2003, and due to increasing demand, efforts are being made to overcome capacity constraints. Half of the output from this new equipment will be exported, and there are two specialized transport ships equipped with large tanks capable of holding 7,000 tons each. The plant is expected to operate at full capacity by the end of 2004 to meet the growing demand. Once the bottlenecks are overcome, the company’s total PO production capacity, together with its existing SM co-production equipment, will amount to 379,000 tons, giving it a significant position in Asia. Adding PG production can increase the company’s profits. Nippon Asahi Kasei Corporation 1. Asahi Kasei expands its MMA operations in Asia Due to the increasing demand for polymers used in liquid crystal light guide plates, Asahi Kasei has been strengthening its domestic production facilities for molding materials and extrusion sheets. With the enhancement of polymers, the production equipment for monomers has also been upgraded to a capacity of 100,000 tons, making it the largest in the world ； Subsequently, the investment strategy shifted to Asia’s growing markets. Build an acrylic extruded sheet factory in South Korea with an annual production capacity of 6,000 tons to supply materials for liquid crystal displays. Currently, there is a shortage of light guide plates, one of the main reasons being a lack of raw materials. Taiwan has large-scale ethylene production plans that can enable the production of isobutylene, while mainland China, where demand exists, has been identified as a potential site for such production. 　　2. Asahi Kasei plans to expand its acrylonitrile production capacity Japanese company Asahi Kasei is establishing a production facility for AN (acrylonitrile) with a capacity of 1 million tons. In the global market, to leverage its advantages such as technical expertise and market dominance, Asahi Kasei will focus on AN as a key business area, allocating substantial operational resources to expand production capacity. Currently, the company’s AN production capacity in Japan amounts to 400,000 tons; its 100% subsidiary in South Korea, Dongseo Petrochemical, has a capacity of 270,000 tons, plus another 50,000 tons under long-term supply contracts. In total, this gives the company a production capacity of 720,000 tons, making it the world’s second-largest AN producer after BP. 　　 　　3. Asahi Kasei boosts DFR production capacity  Japanese company Asahi Kasei is strengthening its business in dry film resist (DFR) for printed circuit boards in Asia; it will add two new production lines in Jiangsu, China, thereby creating a supply infrastructure covering 170 million square meters – 30% larger than the current one – to serve downstream slit processing operations in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, mainland China, and **, in order to capture share in the growing Asian market. 　　DFR is an essential material in the circuits used to manufacture printed circuit boards. Asahi Kasei’s DFR consists of three layers: a surface film layer (made of LDPE), a photosensitive resist layer composed of cross-linked monomers and a photoinitiator, and a support film layer (made of PET); it holds a market share of nearly 40% in Japan. 　　Mitsui Chemicals, Japan 1. Mitsui Chemicals’ expansion of EPT Currently, Mitsui Chemicals, for which elastomers are one of its core business areas, is actively expanding its operations in Asia. In addition to operating production facilities capable of manufacturing 100,000 tons per year of α-olefin copolymers, it is also exploring new uses for these materials as modifiers for resins, coatings for wires, and substitutes for soft resins in wallpaper. Next is to advance the second-phase investment plan for EPT. EPT is a high-quality composite material for use in automobiles, and the company holds the largest market share in the world for glass sealants and automotive sealants. Production locations are being selected to rationalize costs. 　　2. Mitsui Chemicals increases phenol production capacity  Currently, the company has a phenol production capacity of 250,000 tons per year. However, there is a shortage of the raw material propylene in the ASEAN region, and securing this propylene has become key to increasing production. The company also possesses equipment for producing bisphenol A (BPA). With new production facilities for polycarbonate (PC) being established in the ASEAN region, the demand for BPA is rising, leading to fierce competition. 　　Furthermore, rising market prices for raw materials such as propylene and benzene have significantly reduced the company’s profits. To meet the increasing demand for BPA, both MPHS and MBSP, which produces BPA, have increased their production levels substantially, yet this is still not sufficient to satisfy the demand in the ASEAN region. 　　3. Mitsui Chemical enhances isopropylbenzene production capacity The increase in the plant’s isopropylene production capacity results from converting the equipment using a solid phosphoric acid catalyst method, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons, to a zeolite catalyst method. By utilizing the most highly active latest zeolite catalysts, the production capacity can be increased to 280,000 tons with only minor modifications to the existing equipment. 　　Mitsui Chemicals ranks third in the world in terms of phenol production, holds a dominant position in Asia, and has an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons in Japan; together with its facilities in Singapore, this brings the total capacity to 750,000 tons. Its production of bisphenol A (BPA) is estimated to be the highest in Asia as well, and it offers a wide range of derivatives, giving it strong market competitiveness. It even has complete production facilities ranging from cumene to phenol and BPA. For the production of 200,000 tons of phenol at the Osaka plant, 280,000 tons of cumene are required; the plant can produce only 100,000 tons of it itself, so 180,000 tons must be supplied from outside. As a result of this review, there are plans to produce all the cumene domestically.