Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. has announced that it will establish a new plant within Osaka Works, Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture, to produce the APEL™ series of cyclic olefin copolymers. Finding its major application in smartphone camera lenses, APEL™ is meeting with surging demand driven by a recent trend toward multi-lens cameras in these devices. Mitsui Chemicals is therefore looking to set up a supply system able to deal with this increased demand.
By establishing the new plant, Mitsui Chemicals’ production capacity for APEL™ will rise by approximately 50 percent. Construction on the new plant is starting this month and is slated to wrap up in March 2022.
Plans going forward are to further grow Mitsui Chemicals’ APEL™ business by capturing new demand in applications such as automotive cameras, head-mounted displays and the medical sector.
Mitsui Chemicals is positioning its Performance Polymers Division – which includes APEL™ and is focused on ICT – as a growth sector. Through this latest production capacity increase, Mitsui Chemicals expects that it will be able to continue meeting increased demand here for the time being. But to properly respond to further demand growth going forward, Mitsui Chemicals will now begin to also consider its next production increase for the series.
Overview
| 1. Target product | Cyclic olefin copolymer (product name: APEL™) |
| 2. Location | Mitsui Chemicals Osaka Works |
| 3. Address | 6, Takasago 1-chome, Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture |
| 4. Additional capacity | One line |
| 5. Technology | Proprietary Mitsui Chemicals technology |
| 6. Schedule | Start of construction: April 2020 End of construction: March 2022 |
| 7. Existing facilities | One line each at Iwakuni-Ohtake Works and Osaka Works, making for a total of two lines |
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