Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) announced on September 14 that it has formed a partnership with Osaka-based Microwave Chemical Co. Ltd., a venture firm that uses microwaves in the development and manufacture of chemical products. Mitsui Chemicals is making a small investment in Microwave Chemical and assigning a researcher to work on-site with the venture firm....
Mitsui Chemicals
Mitsui Chemicals Targets Automotive Interiors With New PP Compound
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) and group company Prime Polymer have developed a super-lightweight polypropylene (PP) compound material for use in automobile interiors. Featuring superior aesthetics, strength and moldability, the new material is being positioned as a growth product – following only the company’s PP compound grade for car bumper use. In developing the super-lightweight PP...
Health Care Developments Represent New Era for 3D Printers – Part 2
A new era stands before 3D printers. Their ability to utilize a variety of resins and metals help meet numerous small-volume needs – ranging from machinery parts to hobby goods. In recent times, another noticeable application of 3D printers has been seen in medical and other related health care fields. Sharp Corp. (TYO:6753) affiliate Kantatsu...
Mitsui Chemicals Moves to Diversify Petrochemical Feedstock, Adapt Plants for Propane Use
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is moving forward with plans to diversify the raw materials for ethylene produced at it plant in Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture. As part of the effort to provide propane as a petrochemical feedstock, Mitsui Chemicals is preparing plant and equipment, including berths for propane liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker ships and related...
Mitsui Chemicals to Expand Airyfa Nonwoven Fabric Production to Thailand, China
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) will increase its production of Airyfa, a strong, flexible nonwoven fabric used primarily for diapers. The bulk of this increase will be made by beginning production of the material at the company’s overseas factories. Seeking to respond to increasing overseas demand for high-quality Japanese diapers, Mitsui Chemicals will begin manufacturing Airyfa...
Toyota Boshoku Dramatically Improves Shock Resistance of Polypropylene in Vehicle Interiors
Toyota Boshoku Corp. (TYO:3116) is exploring applications for a plastic alloy with some of the best impact strength in the world. The material was developed in collaboration with Toyota Central R&D Labs Inc. Toyota Boshoku is marketing the plastic alloy as an impact strength material to dramatically improve the shock resistance of polypropylene (PP). The...
Materials Startup JMTC Establishes Venture Fund With Asahi Glass, Mitsui Chemicals
Japan Material Technologies Corp. (JMTC) has teamed up with Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. (TYO:5201) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) on an investment fund to support manufacturing ventures. The fund will be managed by wholly owned subsidiary JMTC Capital, with both Asahi Glass and Mitsui Chemicals contributing. In addition to providing funding, Asahi Glass and Mitsui...
Japan’s Ethylene Sector Records Second Best Year to Date in Ordinary Profit
Fiscal 2016 was a good year for Japanese ethylene. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI) Material Industries Division, the ethylene businesses of 10 companies combined to increase by 23.3 percent in year-on-year total ordinary profit to 230.2 billion yen ($2.09 billion). The increase marks the second best result...
Mitsui Chemicals R&D Head Shin Fukuda Talks Innovation and Venture Business
The Chemical Daily recently had the opportunity to interview Shin Fukuda, a managing executive officer at Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) and head of the company’s R&D headquarters as of April this year. After studying atomic engineering at Hokkaido University, Fukuda started his career at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s (TYO:7201) aerospace division, but due to restructuring...
JPCA Chair: US Shale-Derived Polyethylene to Have Limited Impact on Domestic Market
Fully operational U.S. shale-derived ethylene facilities are expected to exert a short-term impact on the domestic Japanese polyethylene (PE) market, says Tsutomu Tannowa, chairman of the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) and president of Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183). Speaking at a regularly scheduled July 20 press conference in Tokyo, Tannowa said that these facilities will...
Mitsui Chemicals to Boost Production of Adhesives for Packaging Materials in Malaysia
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) will ramp up production in Malaysia of adhesives for food packaging and other uses. Annual production capacity will increase approximately 70 percent to 35,000 tons. Construction will wrap up next month and operations are slated to commence in September. The move is in response to growing demand in Southeast Asia for...
Mitsui Chemicals Prepares for Global Launch of Dental 3D Printer
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) this month will begin global sales of a dental 3D printer. The new printer is capable of accurately producing dental technician materials at speeds six times higher than that of methods up to now. Mainly focusing on dental laboratories in the U.S. and Europe, Mitsui Chemicals is aiming initially to sell...
Mitsui Chemicals Aims to Boost UHMW-PE Production to Meet LiB Separator Demand
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) plans to ramp up production of its ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) Hi-Zex Million. Demand for the material’s use in lithium-ion secondary battery (LiB) separators for electric vehicles (EVs) is surging. Consequently, the existing plant at the firm’s Iwakuni-Ohtake Works in Yamaguchi Prefecture is operating close to capacity. As well as...
Kyoto University Succeeds in Generating 1kW of Energy With Ammonia Fuel Cells
Kyoto University has successfully generated 1 kilowatt of electricity with fuel cells using ammonia directly as a fuel. By supplying ammonia directly to the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack, Kyoto University has achieved a similar level of power output as more generalized SOFCs. The suitability of ammonia as an SOFC fuel serves to demonstrate...
Mitsui Chemicals Robot Materials Chief Ishimaru Discusses Promising Developments
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) set up its Robot Materials Business Development Division in April last year. The firm plans to explore the possibilities for new business as the number of robots that interact with people grows. Specifically, Mitsui Chemicals aims to increase opportunities to offer materials and solutions that help to enhance robot functions and...
Japanese Chemical Giants to Leverage AI, Big Data for Joint Research Into Polymer Materials
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4005), Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) plan to work with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) on basic research into polymer materials. The four firms have agreed to contribute both basic research data on polyolefins and researchers in the hope of developing data...
Mitsui Kagaku Sanshi Promotes Plastic Biotope Products for Coastal, Riverbank Protection
Mitsui Kagaku Sanshi Co. Ltd. is promoting to the Japanese market plastic products that prevent erosion at costal areas and river banks. The company is showcasing Geotube, a polypropylene (PP) product for coastal areas, and Shelton, a polyolefin product for rivers. Both have low impact on the environment and promise to lead to reductions in...
Mitsui Chemicals Earmarks 350B Yen for Investments Through 2020
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) will be making investments worth 350 billion yen ($3.15 billion) over the three-year period running through March 2020. The designated sum is 2.2 times that spent by the company over the previous three-year period, and 65 percent of the total is being earmarked for growth areas. Mitsui Chemicals, focused on financial...
Chemical, Materials Firms Set to Exceed 1 Trillion Yen in Capital Investments for 2017
Investments in plant and equipment by major chemical and materials companies during fiscal 2017 are set to total 1.18 trillion yen ($10.62 billion), increasing 20 percent over the previous year’s total, which was less than 1 trillion yen. The wide margin of increase comes on top of levels of investment that were already high, owing...
Mitsui Chemicals Looks to Harness IoT in Plant Maintenance
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is applying the Internet of Things (IoT) to the safe and stable operation of its chemical plants starting this fiscal year. The company sees advancements in information and communications technology (ICT) such as IoT, AI and big data analysis dramatically changing how chemical plants are run. It will begin tapping the...
