Abolition of PTA/PET business Unit, Mitsui Chemicals Announced Reorganization!

On January 12, Mitsui Chemicals announced that in order to promote the company-wide basic strategy in the "VISION 2030" long-term management plan, it will implement the following organizational structure adjustments from April 1, 2024.

Mitsui Chemicals ICT Materia, Inc. established

After the establishment of Mitsui Chemicals ICT Materia, Inc., it will become a direct subsidiary of the ICT Solutions business unit. In addition, Mitsui Chemicals Tohcello, Inc. will no longer be a direct affiliate of this business unit and will be removed from the head office's ministerial organization.

Cancellation of PTA/PET Division

With the reduction of business scale, the PTA/PET business unit of the Basic and Green Materials Division will be abolished. The PTA/PET business will be transferred to the Phenol Division of the same business unit. Previously, Mitsui Chemicals had announced the closure of relevant production capacity.

Renamed Processed Products Business Support Center

In order to clarify the role of the entire company in leading production technology in the processing field, the Processed Products Business Support Center will be renamed the Processing Production Technology Center.

Create new Office of Chief Technology Officer

To further strengthen and implement technology management led by the Chief Technology Officer, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer will be established.

Clear strategic direction

This follows a late 2023 speech by Mitsui Chemicals President and CEO Osamu Hashimoto outlining the Japanese resin supplier's Vision 2030 strategic business plan and what the plan means for the company's business units serving industries such as transportation and green energy. Although details about potential major announcements are scant, Hashimoto noted that developing next-generation elastomers by 2030 is a key part of the agenda.

Mitsui Chemicals also continues to expand its TAFMER™ vinyl polyolefin elastomers and plastomers (POE/POP) business. The material is widely used as an impact modifier in polypropylene (PP) automotive compounds and is increasingly becoming an alternative to ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as an encapsulating material in certain types of solar modules.

In fiscal year 2024 (starting April 2023) TAFMER™ production will make new progress in Singapore and Japan, including the launch of a new production line in Singapore with an annual output of 120,000 tons.

On July 28, 2023, Mitsui Chemicals Co., Ltd. held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory to produce high-performance elastomer TAFMER™ at its wholly-owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore (MELS).

The new factory is located in Jurong Island, Singapore. It will produce high-performance elastomer TAFMER™ with a designed production capacity of 120,000 tons/year, further improving its existing production capacity of 225,000 tons/year. The project is scheduled to be completed in fiscal 2024.

The company wants to separate the three large business departments of agricultural products, coatings, and battery materials from the company's existing structure and transfer them into legally independent units. Thus combining a more differentiated individual business management method with the product advantages of that business to improve competitiveness.

General chemicals have always been the ancestral business of major Japanese chemical companies or synonymous with the companies themselves. Today, these companies are accelerating their exit from or scaling back the production of general-purpose chemicals.

Against the background of reduced domestic demand in Japan and the expansion of petrochemical product production capacity in Asia, production equipment for petrochemical and other products that lack international competitiveness has been unable to ensure profits. What's more, the urgent need to reform the corporate structure in response to carbon neutrality is also a side factor. Japanese chemical companies are reducing the proportion of highly volatile petrochemical businesses, leveraging their technological advantages and shifting business resources to the fields of electronics and life sciences, striving to win in global competition by reforming their business portfolio.