Japanese Chemical Giant Will Withdraw From Nylon Raw Material Business!

On April 18, Sumitomo Chemical will withdraw from the caprolactam business as a raw material for vinylon. With the goal of October, the production facilities in the Ehime Plant (Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) will be shut down. In the past 10 years or so, the production of caprolactam by overseas companies has soared, centered on Chinese companies, leading to a deterioration in Sumitomo Chemical's profitability.

Sumitomo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

In 1915, chemical fertilizers were produced from sulfurous acid gas generated in copper smelting, so that pollution was prevented and resources could be reused. This is how Sumitomo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. developed. Now, it is one of Japan's representative comprehensive chemical companies and one of the main companies of the Sumitomo Group. Now, it has 4 divisions of basic chemistry, petrochemistry, fine chemistry, agricultural chemistry and 10 research institutes, producing and supplying industrial pharmaceuticals, synthetic fiber materials, aluminum, synthetic rubber, synthetic resins, dyes, chemicals in 5 factories About 3,000 kinds of products, such as finished products, pesticides, feed additives, chemical fertilizers, etc. ‍

A successful investment by Sumitomo

Sumitomo Chemical ranks second in Japan's chemical industry and 19th in the world. It is a large chemical company with a lot of investment in China.

In 2004, Sumitomo Chemical invested 1 trillion yen (about 75 billion yuan) in Saudi Arabia to engage in oil refining projects. It was a huge risk to put out so much money at once. Yonekura persuaded the Japanese government and a group of banks to complete the investment.

At that time, the crude oil price submitted by Saudi Arabia to Sumitomo Chemical was 20 US dollars per barrel. After careful calculation, Mikang felt that the crude oil price might rise to 25 US dollars, and the demand for oil in China and India would increase. The oil price is short-term. will not fall. At that time, after talking about this project with Saudi Arabia for several years, Yonekura felt that it was time to make a decision, so he decisively signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia, which stipulated that the risk would ultimately be borne by Sumitomo Chemical.

Shortly after the contract was signed, oil prices began to rise, reaching $80 a barrel in 2006. Investment in Saudi Arabia has become a "cash cow" for Sumitomo Chemical. ‍

International feel when deciding

Being able to make such a big decision is inseparable from Yonekura's international feeling. Most of Japan's new generation of corporate leaders speak some English, but few are as proficient in English as Yonekura.

Every year, international chemical giants hold two closed-door meetings, with only 8 participants, including the president of DuPont, Dow Jones, and BASF, etc. Among Asian countries, only Mikura attended. The meeting discusses the world economy, political situation, etc. The content will never be made public. All companies must show their skills at the meeting. Yonekura's international sense has benefited a lot from such a meeting.

The business card that Ryimikura gave to reporters only had the official title of "President of Sumitomo Chemical (President)", but the director of the Public Relations Center of the Keidanlian told reporters that Yonekura was the vice-chairman of the Keidanlian and was in charge of public relations. Work. Taking important positions in organizations such as Keidanren, Yonekura also knows the trends of the Japanese economy like the back of the hand.

Entrepreneurship is often a kind of "adventurous spirit". But behind the risk, if there is no sophisticated investigation and analysis of the international economy and a large amount of high-quality information to support, entrepreneurship may be a simple risk. Large-scale investment operations by large Japanese companies often do not fail, and the reason for their success is closely related to the entrepreneur's feeling and ability to analyze information. ‍