Toray Industries Inc. (TYO:3402) holds a leading share of the market for carbon fiber, having played a significant role in the material’s development throughout its history. Following on from earlier...
Materials
Toray’s Long History of Carbon Fiber Development – Part 1
Following its slogan, “Materials can change our lives,” Toray Industries Inc. (TYO:3402) helps contribute to energy conservation and greenhouse gas reductions via its Torayca carbon fiber and carbon fiber reinforced...
Mitsubishi Chemical Targets Further Synergy Between Engineering Plastics, Carbon Fiber Composites
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. is speeding up its efforts to create synergy between its High Performance Engineering Plastics Division and Carbon Fiber & Composite Materials Division. As of January, both divisions...
Toray Plans Launch of Low-Cost RFID Tags
Toray Industries Inc. (TYO:3402) is moving to introduce radio frequency identification (RFID) tags made using printable semiconductors, with plans being to test these at real stores as soon as 2019....
Japanese Paper and Packaging Companies Spur Nano-Fibrillated CNF Development
Japan is seeing a growing base of development support for cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) measuring only a few nanometers in diameter. Daio Paper Corp. (TYO:3880) announced on Aug. 1 that it...
Shanghai Petrochemical Pursues Mass Production of Large-Tow Carbon Fiber
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. Ltd. is pressing forward with efforts to begin mass production of large-tow carbon fiber made with polyacrylonitrile (PAN). A subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp....
Idemitsu Kosan Plans Malaysian Production for Syndiotactic Polystyrene
Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. (TYO:5019) is planning to expand its production operations for syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS). A base for this is set to be established in Malaysia, where member companies...
Japanese Companies Develop World-First Technologies for High-Performance, Eco-Friendly Tires
Looking to maintain their competitiveness, Japanese tire companies have been working to develop new rubber materials using technologies that are the first of their kind worldwide. These new rubber materials...
Mitsui Chemicals Pursues Growth in Automotive Materials Business
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is ramping up efforts aimed at the commercialization of new automotive materials. One initiative here is seeing the company develop a unidirectional (UD) tape made of...
Takagi Seiko Targets Growth With Production of Needle-Free Injector Parts
Takagi Seiko Corp. (TYO:4242) is aiming to leverage its precision molding technologies to expand its business in the medical device field. These efforts have already seen the Toyama Prefecture-based company...
Mitsubishi Chemical to Boost Production of Synthetic Silica Powder
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. will increase its production capacity for synthetic silica powder. As one of the materials in semiconductor silicon wafers, single crystal ingots are produced by melting polycrystalline silicon...
Tokai Carbon Eyes Increase to LiB Anode Material Production
Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. (TYO:5301) is considering an increase to its production of anode materials for lithium-ion secondary batteries (LiBs) over the medium term. The company’s output of anode materials...
Mitsui Chemicals Tohcello Plans Production Increase for MLCC Release Film
Mitsui Chemicals Tohcello Inc. is planning to boost its production of silicone-coated release film for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). MLCCs are currently seeing rapid popularization due to trends in the...
Victrex Looks Into Capital Investment for Increased PEEK Production
Major polyether ether ketone (PEEK) manufacturer Victrex PLC is looking into ramping up its production within the next five years. The move would come as a brace for such trends...
China’s First-Half Ethylene Production Hits 9M Tons
New figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show the country’s ethylene production as having risen 0.5 percent year-on-year to 9 million tons for the first half of calendar 2018....
Monocrystalline Silicon Production Hits Record High
Japan’s domestic production of monocrystalline silicon came in at a new high in 2017. The year saw Japanese silicon producers total sales of 882.1 billion yen ($7.81 billion) and an...
Toyota Auto Body Moves Closer to Commercialization of Plant-Based Materials
Toyota Auto Body Co. Ltd. is working on auto parts applications for plant-based materials, focusing here on its plant fiber-reinforced resin, noise-absorbing material and cellulose nanofiber. Developed in 2013, the...
Kuraray to Establish US Production Base for Biomass-Derived Barrier Film
Kuraray Co. Ltd. (TYO:3405) is planning to establish a U.S. production base for its Plantic line of biomass-derived barrier films by 2020. Around 80 percent of the market for these...
Ueno Fine Chemicals Amplifies Marketing of LCP for Low-Temperature Alloying With Resins
Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry Ltd. is doubling down on marketing efforts for its Tecros line of liquid crystal polymer (LCP), which is able to be alloyed with general-purpose resins. The...
Sumitomo Chemical to Manufacture OLED Modules in China
Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4005) is set to launch production of OLED panel modules in China. The company is preparing to supply panel manufacturers with modules that integrate a touch...
