Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. (head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Takumi Ubagai) announces the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary located in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, to develop the highly functional film business for agricultural greenhouses in China. We will start the construction of the company facilities in fall 2012, aiming to start the production and sales of film products in summer 2013.

  The Japanese agricultural materials market is in the state of saturation due to the decline in the total population combined with the aging agricultural population and the lack of younger people to take over the agricultural business. Meanwhile, in China, greenhouse farming (farming using agricultural greenhouses) is increasingly modernized and growing in scale as the need for safe and reliable vegetable supply surges in tandem with the recent rapid economic development. The area devoted to greenhouse farming in China is 3.6 million hectares, which is 70 times as much as the corresponding area in Japan. Mitsubishi Plastics has been developing the agricultural materials business including plant factories utilizing solar light (“solar-powered plant factories”) mainly through a group company, MKV Dream Co., Ltd.* However, for further business development given the circumstances mentioned above, it is essential to expand into overseas markets.

  The newly established subsidiary will engage in the local production and sales of highly functional polyolefin films with special coating, which are used as external films for agricultural greenhouses (“agricultural PO films”). The films for the use of agricultural greenhouses that are currently used in China are mostly single-layer films whose useful life is only about a year. On the other hand, our agricultural PO films are multi-layer films, and can be used for a period of three to five years as they are more resistant to the deterioration of transparency and durability due to the effect of special coating on the surface. This type of highly functional films for the use of agricultural greenhouses are not yet widely used in China, but their market is expected to grow rapidly in the future as greenhouse farming is increasingly modernized and growing in scale. In addition, given that the use of this type of highly functional films will also be necessary in solar-powered plant factories, which are strategically promoted by MKV Dream Co., Ltd. as a new business, we reached a conclusion that for the promotion of solar-powered plant factories in China, local capability to manufacture and supply highly functional films was essential. The total investment related to this matter is expected to be approximately 1.8 billion yen.

  The Mitsubishi Plastics Group will further promote the expansion of the solar-powered plant factories business, which is recognized by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation as the “next generation agribusiness,” and related materials businesses not only in China, but also across the Asian region including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Oceania, using the newly established subsidiary as a pivotal force.

  * MKV Dream Co., Ltd. will be renamed to Mitsubishi Plastics Agri Dream Co., Ltd. as of January 1, 2013.

 

 

Overview of the new company
 Company name: Wuxi Lingshu Agricultural Film & Material Technology Co., Ltd
 Location: Xishan, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
 Date of incorporation: May 12, 2012
 Capital: 800 million yen
 Shareholder: Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. (100% ownership)
 Representative: Atsushi Obayashi, Chairman
 　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kazuhiro Yoshimoto, Chief Executive Officer
 Business: Manufacturing and sales of agricultural PO films
 Production capacity: Approximately 4,000t / year

Agricultural PO films covering greenhouses

 

For further information please contact:
Public Relations and Investor Relations office,
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation.
TEL: +81-3-6748-7140