Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.shinetsu.co.jp) plans to proactively expand its silicones business, one of its main business segments, by establishing a new plant in Japan, and expanding its Technical Center in Japan that performs technical services for silicone rubber molding and processing.
Shin-Etsu Chemical will construct a functional silane plant that can effectively carry out various kinds of small-quantity production. The investment amount is ¥2.3 billion, and it will be constructed by March 2018 at the company’s Naoetsu Plant in Niigata Prefecture. Shin-Etsu Chemical has many groups of products that have high-level characteristics and highly functional features, such as resin-modifying silane that is used in automobiles and electric and electronics materials and a silane coupling agent that realizes greater adhesive strength. The new plant will help meet the increasing demand for these types of products.
In addition, Shin-Etsu Chemical will expand its silicone rubber molding and processing Technical Center in Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, which opened in 2001 and will enhance its technical services. For molding that uses silicone rubber as its material, the number of cases in which the Liquid Injection Molding System (LIMS) is being used is increasing, and is also expected to become more widespread in the future. Furthermore, its applications in various fields such as electric and electronics, automobiles, office equipment and healthcare are showing indications of further expansion. Taking these trends into account, the Technical Center will enhance their technical explanations and product demonstrations to customers by such means as increasing molding machines and then be able to connect these steps to expanding our sales capabilities. The new Technical Center is scheduled for completion in July 2017.
Shin-Etsu Chemical has expanded production capacity in its silicones business by investing a combined ¥40 billion in Thailand and Japan starting last year, and Shin-Etsu also invested ¥5 billion to obtain industrial land in Thailand. With this latest investment, since 2015 Shin-Etsu has invested a total amount that reaches close to ¥50 billion.
The new research building that was constructed at Shin-Etsu’s Silicone-Electronics Materials Research Center in Gunma Prefecture began operations this spring, and in the U.S. in the State of New Jersey a Technical Center was established. With all of these bold moves, Shin-Etsu Chemical is carrying out the expansion of its silicones business in Japan and overseas, both in the areas of manufacturing and research activities.