NIPPON SHOKUBAI announces an expansion of　Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) production capacity at Himeji Plant

NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD. [Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Osaka; President: Masanori Ikeda,　TSE:4114] (“NIPPON SHOKUBAI”) expands superabsorbent polymers production capacity to meet its strong growth in global demand.

Global demand for SAP has been increasing at from 6% to 7% annual reflecting the growth of diaper, which is major application of SAP. To satisfy this strong demand quickly, NIPPON SHOKUBAI has decided to build a new SAP plant with an annual capacity of 50,000MT/Y at Himeji plant. NIPPON SHOKUBAI will apply our latest technology to this new SAP facility for improving productivity. After validation of this technology in Himeji plant, this technology would be applied to future SAP facilities for supplying high quality and cost competitive SAP to all over the world.

In addition to this expansion at Himeji plant, NIPPON SHOKUBAI is now planning further large scale expansions in Belgium or other regions, as planned on our new long-term business plan “Reborn Nippon Shokubai 2020” which was announced at April 2014.

With the start of the new SAP plant at Himeji, NIPPON SHOKUBAI group’s global SAP production capacity will be 610,000MT/Y (Please refer to the attached file), and NIPPON SHOKUBAI will maintain its top share of the global market in the SAP.

Feature of the capacity expansion
　Production capacity SAP　50,000 MT/Y
　Schedule Mechanical completion: End of June 2016
　Location 　　　　　 Existing site of Himeji Plant

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