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...
PP
Asahi Kasei to Boost Production of Successful Fiber Products
Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) is expanding investment in fibers and textiles. The company plans to grow its polyamide 66 brands in Japan for the automotive field, with a focus on artificial leather and airbags, and will establish a production base overseas. In Thailand, the company is looking to respond to demand for diapers by increasing...
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...
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...
Siam Cement Begins Feasibility Study of New Petrochemical Complex in Indonesia
Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SGC) has begun a feasibility study on the construction of a petrochemical complex in Indonesia. Under consideration is a joint venture with Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP), an Indonesian firm in which SGC has a 30.6-percent stake. They are exploring the possibilities of using a naphtha cracker to produce a wide...
Canada Builds Petrochemical Presence With Rich Natural Gas Reserves – Part 1
The Canadian province of Alberta has been gaining attention as a petrochemical production area, coming thanks to the region’s rich reserves of natural gas. Currently, two plans are underway there for the production of propylene and downstream polypropylene (PP) using propane dehydrogenation (PDH). The province has been active in attracting C1 and C2 chemical projects...
Japan Polypropylene to Build New PP Facility With Annual Capacity of 150,000 Tons
Japan Polypropylene Corp. announced on April 26 that it is investing 9 billion yen ($80.91 million) for the construction of a new polypropylene (PP) facility in the company’s Goi plant in Chiba Prefecture. Scheduled to come online in October 2019, the new facility will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons with use of...
Toyota Boshoku, Mitsui Chemicals to Form Business Alliance for High Impact-Resistant Plastic
Toyota Boshoku Corp. (TYO:3116) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) announced on April 11 that they will form a business alliance for the commercialization of high impact-resistant plastic. Using patents owned by Toyota Boshoku, Mitsui Chemicals will start manufacturing and marketing the plastic from fiscal 2018. Toyota Boshoku is considering using high impact-resistant plastic in its...
Mitsui Chemicals to Strengthen Petrochemical Business With 100 Billion Yen Investment
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) is planning to allocate 100 billion yen ($905.3 million) for capital investment in the petrochemical sector by fiscal 2025. For its ethylene facilities, the company will install storage tanks for raw material diversification to improve logistics. In the polyolefin realm, the company is eying the possibility of constructing factories in Japan...
Sekisui Chemical to Establish Chinese Company for Polyolefin Foam Production
Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4204) announced on March 24 that it will establish a company in Wuxi, China, for the production of polyolefin foam to be used in automotive interiors. Sekisui Chemical will invest approximately 2.5 billion yen ($22.59 million) to build a new factory that will begin operations at some point in the first...
Tokyo Printing Ink Develops PP Filament for 3D Printers
Tokyo Printing Ink Mfg. Co. Ltd. (TYO:4635) has developed a new 3D printer filament made of polypropylene (PP). The company anticipates that the material will be in demand for the making of prototypes, design models, figurines and toys. Tokyo Printing Ink is setting up its own mass production system and will start sales on April...
Sekisui Chemical Develops New CFRP Manufacturing Process, Promising Potential for Wind Turbine Blades
Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4204) on Feb. 27 announced the development of a new way to manufacture and mold thermoplastic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). The process works by opening carbon fiber bundles with which a composite with polypropylene (PP) is formed. This composite is then continuously molded into sheets or a ribbed structure. The...
Toyota Turns to Chandra Asri Petrochemical for PP in Indonesian Vehicle Production
Major Indonesian petrochemical company PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) has for the first time had its polypropylene (PP) for automobiles used by Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) for the interior components of locally produced small cars. CAP plans to boost annual production during the next few years by 100,000 tons to 580,000 tons, and is...
Isono Starts Recycling Polypropylene From Scrapped Automobiles
Isono Co. Ltd., a major plastic recycler based in Nagoya, has begun collecting plastic from scrapped automobiles and recycling this for use by the auto industry as materials for interior parts in new vehicles. The plastic that Isono is recycling in this project is polypropylene (PP), which is often used for interior automobile parts. The...
Commentary: Thailand’s IRPC Aims to Compete With Japanese Companies in Polypropylene Market
Thailand-based IRPC PCL is looking to supply Japanese automobile manufacturers with polypropylene (PP), as the petrochemical company aims to have a facility for the compound complete in 2017. The company is drawing attention as to whether or not it can break into Thailand’s PP market for automobiles, which is currently dominated by Mitsui Chemicals Inc....
Prime Polymer Announces Price Hike for Polyolefins
Prime Polymer Co. Ltd. will hike the price of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), effective for shipments from Jan. 21, 2017. Prices will be revised by no less than 20 yen ($0.17) per kilogram, attributed to the rise in price of naphtha. According to the company, the price of domestically produced naphtha, which is the...
Japan’s Environment Ministry Starts Lightweight Vehicle Program Using CNF
The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has launched the Nano Cellulose Vehicle (NCV) Project, aimed at using cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and resin compounds to reduce motor vehicle weight by 10 percent by 2020, thereby cutting vehicle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A consortium for the project was launched in late October, comprising 20 research organizations and...
Japan Polypropylene to Hike up PP Prices From January 2017
Major polypropylene (PP) producer Japan Polypropylene Corp. (JPP) plans on raising the price of all PP products, starting with deliveries from Jan. 4, 2017. The price increase will be of at least an additional 20 yen ($0.17) per kilogram and is to compensate the increasing cost of petroleum naphtha and other raw fuel materials. According...
Mitsubishi Chemical Develops New 3D Printer Filaments
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. has developed a series of filaments for use in 3D printers. After launching sales of a filament made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in September, Mitsubishi Chemical now plans to launch a polypropylene (PP) filament with practical dimension accuracy in January. By March, the company plans to also launch sales of a water-soluble,...
Commentary: Japanese Polypropylene Companies Consider Major Facility Upgrades
Japanese manufacturers of polypropylene (PP) are kicking off upgrades to production infrastructure to be completed for around 2020. These companies had been cutting production capacity in line with contracting domestic demand, but now they will reverse course in a simultaneous effort to boost that capacity. PP self-sufficiency in China is behind the shift. PP manufacturers...
