Shin-Etsu Chemical to invest 20 billion Yen in facility investments in Japan and Europe

Shin-Etsu Chemical will carry out 20 billion Yen in facility investments in order to further strengthen its cellulose derivatives business.

The new investments will be put into effect at two of Shin-Etsu’s cellulose manufacturing bases: Shin-Etsu Chemical’s Naoetsu Plant in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan and SE Tylose GmbH & Co. KG in Wiesbaden, Germany, a 100%-owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical. The investment projects are aimed for completion in mid-2019. By expanding its line-up of cellulose products, Shin-Etsu Chemical will capture the broad demand for cellulose products and aim for the further growth of its cellulose business.

Shin-Etsu Chemical began production of cellulose at its Naoetsu Plant from 1962. Since that time, Shin-Etsu kept on expanding this plant’s production capacity. At the same time, in 2003, it acquired the cellulose business of Clariant AG (which became SE Tylose), as it continued to expand its cellulose derivatives business. And then in 2016, Shin-Etsu further expanded its cellulose products production capacity when it began production of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), a type of cellulose derivative, at a newly constructed manufacturing facility in the State of Louisiana in the United States. At present, Shin-Etsu supplies its various cellulose products to its worldwide customers based on its production system of having tripolar bases in Japan, Europe and the United States.