Completion Ceremony Held for New AA/SAP Plants in NIPPON SHOKUBAI EUROPE N.V.

NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD. (Headquarter: Osaka, Japan, President: Yujiro Goto, hereinafter “Nippon Shokubai”) announces that its subsidiary NIPPON SHOKUBAI EUROPE N.V. (hereinafter “NSE”) held a completion ceremony for the new plants of superabsorbent polymers (“SAP”) and Acrylic Acid (“AA”) in the premise of NSE in Antwerp, Belgium on October 2, 2018.

“We newly constructed a plant of AA which is the main raw material for SAP, although we had produced only SAP at NSE before. Now we are able to produce AA and SAP consistently here, and this vertical integration is one of our big advantages,” said Yujiro Goto, the president of Nippon Shokubai.

SAP, key material for diapers, is one of the core products of Nippon Shokubai Group. Global demand for SAP grows steadily. Also in Europe, SAP demand is expected to grow stably mainly in Central Europe and Eastern Europe. In order to meet the growth of demand, Nippon Shokubai enhanced its supply capability to European market by expanding its production facility of SAP at NSE. In addition, Nippon Shokubai newly established a production facility of AA which is the main raw material for SAP so that it can consistently produce SAP from raw material in Europe. This enabled Nippon Shokubai to further strengthen its global stable supply capability of SAP. Nippon Shokubai will continue to enhance its position as the top supplier of SAP.

Nippon Shokubai Group’s Production Capability of AA and SAP (KT/Y)
       End of 2017      End of 2018
AA        780           880
SAP        610            710

The main attendants for the ceremony are as follows;
Mr. Hajime HAYASHI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Kingdom of Belgium
Mr. Pieter de Crem, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Belgium
Mr. Marc Van Peel, Chairman of Port of Antwerp
Mr. Frank Beckx, Managing Director of Essenscia Vlaanderen
Mr. André Van de Vyver, Mayor of Zwijndrecht
Mr. Yujiro Goto, President of Nippon Shokubai
Mr. Takumi Hatsuda, President of NSE
Number of attendants for the ceremony is around 100.

1. Corporate outline of NSE
Company name : NIPPON SHOKUBAI EUROPE N.V.
Established : February 1999
Location : Antwerp, Belgium (headquarters and plant)
Representative : Takumi Hatsuda, President
Capital : 193 million EURO
Business : Production and sales of AA and SAP
Number of employees : 188 (as of September 30, 2018)

2. Feature of the investment
Production capacity : SAP 100,000 T/Y (expansion)
(previous capacity 60,000 T/Y, totally 160,000 T/Y at NSE after completion)
AA 100,000 T/Y (newly established)
Commercial operation : Started in July 2018
Location : In the existing premise of NSE
Investment amount : Approx. 350 million EURO


About Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.:
Since 1941, Nippon Shokubai has grown up its business with unique catalyst technology. Nippon Shokubai has supplied, for example, ethylene oxide, acrylic acid, automobile catalysts, process catalysts and so on. Among all, our global market share of superabsorbent polymer is the largest in the world now. Nippon Shokubai is a global chemical company operating under its corporate mission “Providing affluence and comfort to people and society with our unique technology.” https://www.shokubai.co.jp/en/

【Contacts】
Investor & Public Relations Dept.,
NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD.
TEL: +81-3-3506-7605 E-mail: shokubai@n.shokubai.co.jp

  • img1_0180SAP Plant
  • img2_0180AA Plant
  • img3_0180Completion Ceremony

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