Shin-Etsu Chemical plans to invest a total of ¥20 billion in facilities in Japan, as it proactively focuses on expanding its silicone business.
The objective of the new facility investments in Shin-Etsu’s silicones business in Japan is to strengthen and expand its silicones facilities at each stage, from R&D and trial production to mass production, as it seeks to steadily capture the globally expanding demand for highly functional silicone products.
At Shin-Etsu Chemical’s Gunma Complex, its largest production base in Japan, the company is investing ¥5 billion as it goes forward with the construction of a new research building adjoining its existing Silicone-Electronics Materials Research Center, and is aiming to start its operations in the spring of 2016.
Another ¥12 billion will be invested at the Gunma Complex to construct new production facilities. In Naoetsu Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Shin-Etsu Chemical will invest ¥3 billion to set up a new manufacturing facility for silicone products that will be used as a marine paint material.
With these new investments totaling ¥20 billion for its silicones business, Shin-Etsu will carry out facility investments in Japan and will supply highly functional and high-quality products globally by closely coordinating its research, production and sales capabilities. Each new facility is scheduled to be completed by March 2017.
As far as investment developments regarding the silicones business outside of Japan, in Thailand, Shin-Etsu obtained for about ¥5 billion new industrial land adjoining its Thai silicone facilities, where a major production capacity expansion project is on-going. In addition, in the United States, Shin-Etsu has established a new Technical Center in the State of New Jersey.