Chem-wire Express Japan

04 February 2004 03:36  [Source: CWEJ]

Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 3 February

Basic and Fine Chemicals

Japan Energy has established technology for a pilot-scale hydrogen storage/supply system using an organic hydride. The company is said to have prospects for the stable and long-term generation of hydrogen. (Page 1)

Kuraray officially announced on 2 February the construction of a production unit for poval films used as a base for LCD polarising films. Investing about Yen3 bn ($28.4m/Euro22.7m), the company will construct a film unit of 15m sq m/year capacity in Tamashima, Okayama Prefecture. Construction is scheduled to start in April-May, with operational startup set for April 2005. (p. 1)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Gas said on 2 February they have set up 50:50 joint venture, OMviro Co, to develop a catalyst used for removing both SO2 and SO3 at the same time from exhaust using pitch-source activated carbon fibre. The companies plan to manufacture and market it. (p. 1)

Toray will accelerate the development of car interior material based on plant-source polymer polylactic acid (PLA). Together with car makers including Toyota Motor, the leading textile maker is developing  materials for door trims, car sheats and mats. (p. 2)

The bargaining of high-density polyethylene (hdPE) export price for China after the Lunar New Year has started with a price of $880/tonne. (p. 2)

Furukawa Co said on 2 February it had started manufacturing aluminum sulphate, on an OEM basis for Toshin Chemical Industry, as a coagulator for city water treatment. (p. 2)

China’s Ministry of Commerce said 1 February it had officially concluded that Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US had dumped phenol in China. Phenol exporters have had dumping duties of 31%-44% imposed on them. (p. 2)

The Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) Industry Association reported EPS shipments in 2003 dropped by 2.1% from a year-before level to 187 484 tonne, marking a decrease for the sixth consecutive year. This was blamed on drops in demand from the household appliance industry and use in other moulded products. (p. 3)

Schepherd Japan has begun selling its new bright pigment in an effort to strengthen its foothold in the Japanese functional pigment market, centering on sintered pigments. The new pigment is silver-coated glass flakes. (p. 4)

It seems very likely that Asian acrylonitrile prices will rise to $950/tonne in February. Suppliers have offered the higher prices to take advantage of the soaring material price and tightening market position, and user companies may be obliged to accept them. (p. 5)

Toray said on 2 February it had changed the name of its Swiss subsidiary Ropur to Toray Membrane Europe. The company is manufacturing reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination. This followed Toray’s purchase last March of a local firm’s stake in the joint company to raise its equity share to 60% from 29%. (p. 11)

Nippon Refine plans to expand capacity for its waste solvent recycling facility in order to cope with an increasing amount of used solvent. (p. 12)

Life Sciences and Health Care

AnGes MG has agreed with Gene Design (Osaka) for the joint development of next generation decoy type nucleic acid. It is intended to improve the stability in blood, safety and efficacy, of the target treatment via intravenous injection. It could be used for treatment of systemic diseases such as IBD. (p. 1)

Toyama Chemical has started a mid-term plan aimed at consolidated sales of over Yen35bn ($332.0m/Euro265.4m) in the year beginning April 2005. The plan is intended to focus on pharmaceuticals to strengthen competitiveness in Japan and abroad. Toyama wants to be the leading anti-infection drug development company in Japan. (p. 8)

Bellsystem 24 Inc has begun contract business in compiling common technical documents (CTD) for applications for new drug approvals. Using the application software licensed by Liquent (US), the company intends to receive orders for outsourcing from drug makers. (p. 8)

Sysmex has begun marketing an improved version of reagents for detecting a prostate caner marker. The new reagent will shorten the detection time to about 15 minutes in combination with the company’s PAMIA series immunoassay equipment. (p. 8)

Ajinomoto plans to strengthen its corporate governance. It has begun to review its company-within-company system, and will study the introduction of foreign executives and an increase in outside auditors. (p. 9)

The National Institute of Agro-Environment Sciences has decided to conduct research in collaboration with chemical and biotech-oriented companies to implement the commercial application of the insect-derived cellulose-decomposing enzyme cellulase. It is expected to find a market for use in the manufacture of an improved detergent and new additives useful for biomass production. (p.9)

Contract research organisations (CROs) have been increasingly moving into Singapore. The world’s largest CRO Quintiles is a forerunner in this field, and Japan’s EPS has also moved there and received an order for contract research. (p. 9)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will invite companies to participate in a project to develop next-generation fermentation technology for functional food ingredients. The project will be pursued in the form of research associations, targeting new products via fatty acid fermentation and biopolymers. (p. 9)

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical said on 2 February it had applied for US FDA approval of an anti-hyponatrimia agent YM087. There has been no effective remedy for the disease. Approval is expected to be given by March 2006. (p. 10)

Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical said on 2 February it had applied for the EU approval of its tamuslosin for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is formulated based on an oral controlled absorption system (OCAS), facilitating absorption by the colon. (p. 10)

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