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| February 23, 2009 |
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| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation Restructures Terephthalic Acid Business |
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| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
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Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Yoshimitsu Kobayashi) today announced plans to shut down a terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant and a production facility at the Mizushima Plant that makes paraxylene, a raw material of terephthalic acid. MCC will also shift a part of headquarters operations of its terephthalic acid business from Japan to Singapore and India to reform the business structure in Asia. The details are as follows.
1. Shutdown of a terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant and a paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant
The terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant started operation in July 1987. The terephthalic acid produced at the Matsuyama Plant is supplied to domestic manufacturers of polyester fibers and films as raw materials.
The paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant started operation in December 1968, and its entire output is used as raw material for terephthalic acid production at the Matsuyama Plant.
MCC has taken various steps toward rationalization from every perspective. However, we concluded that there are no prospects to restoring profitability, and decided to shut down the facilities due to a trend of decreasing domestic demand for terephthalic acid.
The terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant and the paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant are scheduled to be shut down in December 2010 and May 2010 respectively. Production of isophthalic acid will continue at the Matsuyama Plant, based on an operation agreement with AG. International Co., Inc.
2. Change of headquarters operations for terephthalic acid business
MCC's terephthalic acid business is developed under a basic policy of locating production sites in customer regions such as Indonesia, India, China, and South Korea, with overall business management based in Japan. In addition to that MCC has decided to shutdown production facilities in Japan, a state-of-the-art terephthalic acid production facility in India, on which construction started January 2006, will be completed at the end of February 2009 and start commercial operation by the end of June 2009. Therefore, the terephthalic acid business will be developed mainly in Asian countries outside Japan.
At that time, MCC plans to move headquarters operations for the business to Singapore in June 2009 and for the technology to India (Haldia, West Bengal) at the end of 2009 , in order to establish a new business model (the final responsibility of the total terephthalic acid business remains in Japan). While ensuring mobility in terms of purchasing raw materials, sales, and technology and localization of human resources, MCC will further promote the reformation of its business structure.
| For further information, please contact |
Public Relations and Investor Relations Department
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation |
| Tel: +81-(0)3-6414-3730 |
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1. Production sites of terephthalic acid
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Japan (Matsuyama) |
250,000 tons/year |
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Indonesia (Merak) |
640,000 tons/year |
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South Korea (Yeosu) |
1,700,000 tons/year |
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India (Haldia, West Bengal) |
470,000 tons/year
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(800,000 tpa production facility is scheduled to be completed in February 2009) |
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China (Ningbo, Zhejiang province) |
600,000 tons/year |
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2. Terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant
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1) Location: |
Matsuyama-shi, Ehime |
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2) General manager: |
Kazuyoshi Mino |
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3) Production capacity: |
250,000 tons/year |
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4) Shutdown timing: |
December 2010 (plan) |
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5) Others: |
Production of isophthalic acid based on an operation agreement
with AG. International Co., Inc. will continue. |
3. Paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant
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1) Location: |
Kurashiki-shi, Okayama |
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2) General manager: |
Yasuhide Ishikawa |
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3) Production capacity: |
100,000 tons/year |
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4) Shutdown timing: |
May 2010 (plan) |
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