In its Performance Products domain, the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group is targeting five growing markets with a diverse range of products and solutions, and applying its advanced technologies to dierentiate and improve product performance.
Financial results and main products
Functional Products
- FY2019 Sales revenue
￥ 675.0 billion
- FY2019 Core operating income
￥ 36.9 billion
Information, Electronics and Displays
- Optical films
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We supply optical films for displays, including polyester films, optical clear adhesive sheets, and polyvinyl alcohol films, while promptly meeting increasingly advanced specifications and requirements in growing global markets.
- Display- and semiconductor-related products and services
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With a focus on creating new value tailored to customers’ needs, we also offer a wide range of materials for displays as well as semiconductor precision cleaning services.
Environment and Living Solutions
- Aqua solutions
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We supply essential products for drinking water and wastewater treatment, including water treatment chemicals, membrane filters, and ion-exchange resins, while aiming to develop solutions for global water shortages and pollution.
- Agricultural solutions
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We also provide various materials including highly durable and functional plastic sheets for greenhouses, and services for vegetable plant systems which ensure year-round cultivation of high-quality vegetables.
Other products：ion-exchange resins／separator and aqua chemicals／infrastructure solutions
High Performance Films
- High-performance films
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We optimally combine our polymer design, molding, surface treatment, and composite material technologies to produce films with added functions, such as gas-barrier properties, weather resistance, moisture permeability, and easy-to-unseal functions. Our films are used in a wide range of industries, including the food packaging and medical products industries.
Advanced Moldings and Composites
- High-performance engineering plastics
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As a leading global manufacturer of high-performance engineering plastics, we provide products to the industrial machinery, automotive, aircraft, and medical equipment industries.
- Carbon fiber and composite materials
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We have established a world-leading integrated product chain spanning from polyacrylonitrile- and pitch-based carbon fibers to intermediate materials and molded products made from such fibers.
Other products：alumina fibers／functional moldings and composites／fibers and textiles
Performance Chemicals
- FY2019 Sales revenue
￥ 406.6 billion
- FY2019 Core operating income
￥ 25.7 billion
Advanced Polymers
- Performance polymers
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We help our customers innovate by supplying a broad range of products for medical and industrial use as well as for consumer goods, including thermoplastic elastomers, performance polyolefins, and polyvinyl chloride compounds.
- Phenol and polycarbonate
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Operating globally with a leading market share in Asia, we supply phenol and polycarbonate by integrating its proprietary manufacturing processes with polymer design and compound technologies.
Other products：polybutylene terephthalate／sustainable polymers
New Energy
- Lithium-ion battery materials
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This business manufactures electrolytes and anode materials for electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries according to the latest customer specifications, leveraging its global supply network and technical expertise spanning from material development to safety assessments.
- Phosphors, scintillators, GaN substrates
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We provide phosphors for fluorescent backlights and LEDs, and scintillators for security devices and medical diagnostic equipment, such as CT scanners. We also develop gallium nitride (GaN) substrates equipped in lasers and other high-performance devices.
High Performance Chemicals
- Coating materials
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Applying advanced technologies for combining, mixing, and evaluating chemical ingredients, we offer environmentally conscious value-added coating materials used in a variety of products, including paint, ink, adhesives, hair care products, and resists for semiconductors.
- Food ingredients
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We also supply food ingredients ranging from vitamin E to food emulsifiers such as sugar ester—for which we have secured a leading global market share—and are expanding this business beyond the food industry to the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.
Other products：epoxy resins／resin additives／inorganic chemicals
SWOT analysis
SStrengths
- Optical Films business
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- We have a strong market position in Japan and can provide solutions for various optical applications.
- High Performance Films business
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- We provide technological capabilities for adding various functions to films, such as gas-barrier, porous, and multilayer films.
- High-Performance Engineering Plastics business
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- We operate a global network of facilities capable of handling a broad range of operations from plastic production to molding and processing.
- Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials business
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- This business can leverage a vertically integrated value chain spanning from carbon fibers to intermediate base materials and composite materials.
WWeaknesses
- Optical Films business
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- We must respond to greater than expected short-term changes in market demand.
- High Performance Films business
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- The operations of this business are concentrated mainly in Japan.
- High-Performance Engineering Plastics business
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- This business is particularly vulnerable to social, economic, and foreign exchange risks in various regions of the world.
- Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials business
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- This business mainly sells products outside Japan, exposing it to foreign exchange risks.
OOpportunities
- Optical Films business
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- Market demand for high-performance and high-precision optical films is growing.
- High Performance Films business
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- As a group, we are able to offer high-performance products to markets outside Japan.
- High-Performance Engineering Plastics business
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- Demand is rising for engineering plastics from the aircraft, semiconductor, and medical equipment industries.
- Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials business
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- These materials are increasingly in demand for use as automobile parts, wind turbine blades, and pressure vessel materials.
TThreats
- Optical Films business
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- The optical film market is shrinking due to disruptive innovations.
- High Performance Films business
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- Demand for these films in Japan is forecast to decline over the medium term.
- High-Performance Engineering Plastics business
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- The market is shrinking with the growing adoption of 3D printers and other new technologies.
- Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials business
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- Competition is intensifying as manufacturers of these materials in emerging countries improve product quality.
APTSIS 20
- Policies
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- Provide high-performance products and solutions on a global scale by accelerating growth through cooperation and integration
- Key strategies
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- Expand businesses offering high-performance and high-value-added products and solutions
- Accelerate global development
- Enhance innovation through business integration
- Achieve profitability of New Energy businesses at an early stage
Strategy for expanding the Information, Electronics and Displays business
This business has been developing display-use optical films, color resist for LCDs, optical components for OLED displays, as well as products and services for semiconductor manufacturing. We are working to expand this business by tailoring products and services to the diverse needs of customers that seek more advanced information processing technologies.
Products and services offered
Strategy for expanding the Advanced Moldings and Composites business
This business supplies high-performance engineering plastics, carbon fiber components, and composite materials for a wide range of industrial applications in the automobile, aerospace, building construction, and medical device industries. We are aiming to expand the business globally by adding more value to its products. Toward that end, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation began constructing a new carbon fiber sheet molding compound production facility in Italy with a view to supply carbon fiber reinforced plastic components to luxury car manufacturers in Europe.
The company is also actively pursuing M&A in order to expand its value chain and bolster its position in strategic markets. Accordingly, it acquired a German prepreg manufacturer in 2020, thereby expanding its prepreg production network to Europe in addition to Japan and the US, and is accelerating its expansion of composite material production of automobile and aircraft secondary structural components. Mitsubishi Chemical has also been acquiring chemical recycling companies in an effort to facilitate the circulation of chemical resources by integrating raw materials recycling into manufacturing operations.
Strategy for expanding the New Energy business
We manufacture and supply highly differentiated lithium-ion battery electrolytes and anode materials that meet stringent safety requirements in the auto industry, and are widely used by electric vehicle manufacturers today. Building on that success, the New Energy business is working to quickly develop innovative and profitable products that can help customers use energy more efficiently. To expand this business over the long term and bolster its international competitiveness, we are increasing production capacity at our manufacturing plants around the world while strengthening our global supply network.
Electrolyte manufacturing subsidiaries by region
Focus：New organizations established to promote semiconductor-related products for solid business foundation
With the widespread use of AI and IoT in recent years, and backed by the shift in the auto industry to connected, autonomous, shared, and electrified (CASE) vehicles, the semiconductor market has been growing substantially and is expected to expand even further in the future. In tandem with this trend, market demand for peelable polyester films is projected to rise dramatically in the future, particularly for their use in production of multilayer ceramic capacitors and other semiconductor devices. Until now, demand has mainly been driven by the use of polyester films in mainstay optical applications.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors
Projected market demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors
Recognizing this opportunity, Mitsubishi Chemical has begun constructing a new polyester film manufacturing facility Mitsubishi Chemical’s DIAMIRON co-extruded multilayer film and Soarnol of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer gas-barrier film are used as food packaging materials. Featuring outstanding barrier properties, the products preserve the freshness and quality of food for relatively long periods of time. In Japan, market demand for food packaging materials has been on the rise amid a shift to individually packed products and problems associated with food loss, which have reflected changing lifestyles in recent years. In response, Mitsubishi Chemical intends to provide a wide range of food packaging materials, including biodegradable multilayer barrier films that are friendly to the environment. in Indonesia. Boasting annual production capacity of 25,000 tons, the new plant is scheduled for completion around the end of 2021. Furthermore, in April 2020, the company set up a centralized headquarters to oversee semiconductor-related products and services in the Information, Electronics and Displays business for the purpose of more quickly offering solutions to semiconductor manufacturers around the world. It also created a new organization to uniformly promote these solutions globally under a single brand. On this momentum, Mitsubishi Chemical is working to establish a solid foundation for its semiconductor-related products business and raise its presence in the industry.
Solutions for environmental and social issuesHelping to reduce food loss and save resources with high-performance barrier films
Mitsubishi Chemical’s DIAMIRON co-extruded multilayer film and Soarnol of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer gas-barrier film are used as food packaging materials. Featuring outstanding barrier properties, the products preserve the freshness and quality of food for relatively long periods of time. In Japan, market demand for food packaging materials has been on the rise amid a shift to individually packed products and problems associated with food loss, which have reflected changing lifestyles in recent years. In response, Mitsubishi Chemical intends to provide a wide range of food packaging materials, including biodegradable multilayer barrier films that are friendly to the environment.
