Japan’s Asahi Kasei eyes growth through diversity in next 5 years

By Pearl Bantillo

(recasts second paragraph for clarity)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asahi Kasei will pursue growth through diversity as its strategic initiative in the next five years starting April 2016, while it expects to post record earnings in the current fiscal year, the Japanese chemical producer said on Wednesday.

“It is all about sales expansion and further reducing production cost for existing products, for all four business sectors,” Asahi Kasei president Toshio Asano had said when discussing the company’s medium-term plans, in a presentation last year.

Asahi Kasei’s operations are divided into chemicals & fibres, homes & construction materials, electronics and health care.

“For chemicals & fibers, the key idea is advancing portfolio transformation. This is not just for petrochemicals. It also applies to performance polymers, performance chemicals such as functional chemicals for food and pharmaceutical manufacture, fibers, as well as consumables,” Asano said.

“We will also focus on development of new process technology. Recognizing that the shale-gas revolution will have a great impact on the petrochemical supply chain, and building on our strength in catalyst technology, we are advancing the verification of two new process technologies to enable feedstock diversification,” Asano said.

These are the processes of producing propylene from ethane, and butadiene from butene, he said.

“Yet another focus is development of new applications for existing products, for fibers as well as polymers,” the Asahi Kasei executive said.

For year to March 2016, the company expects its sales to inch up by 0.7% from a record high in the previous year to yen (Y) 2,000bn ($16bn), about  45% of which or Y894bn will be derived from its chemical & fibres business, the company said.

But the projected sales for this segment represent a 6.3% decline from the previous corresponding period.

Group operating income for year to March 2016 is expected to hit Y164bn, up by 3.9% from a record high in the previous year, with chemical earnings posting a 3.3% increase to Y56bn, and fibres a 4.8% increase in income to Y11bn, Asahi Kasei said.

These earnings forecasts exclude the acquisition of Polypore International that is worth about Y260bn, the company said. The acquisition was first announced in February.

Asahi Kasei is targeting increased profitability for its materials business, which covers the chemical & fibres segment; stable growth for its homes business; and high growth for its healthcare operations.

The company currently can produce 960,000 tonnes/year of acrylonitrile; 710,000 tonnes/year of styrene monomer (SM); 170,000 tonnes/year of methyl methacrylate (MMA); 170,000 tonnes/year of adipic acid (AA); and 170,000 tonnes/year of cyclohexanol.

In March 2016, its SM capacity will fall to 390,000 tonnes/year with the planned closure of its 320,000 tonne/year unit in Mizushima, to focus on the domestic market.

The closure is in line with the company’s strategy to strengthen its petrochemical operations in Japan, Asahi Kasei said.

Asahi Kasei closed its 150,000 tonne/year ACN plant in Kawasaki in August 2014, with a 100,000 tonne/year unit in Mizushima dedicated to another product, the company said.

The company is targeting to strengthen its position as Asia’s top supplier of ACN through further enhancing its catalyst technology for propane process, among other things; enhancing cost-competitiveness to include derivative products; and establishing optimum production configuration for its operations in Japan, Korea and Thailand.

It has a 200,000 tonne/year ACN capacity in Thailand and a 245,000 tonne/year capacity in South Korea. Tongsuh Petrochemical is Asahi Kasei’s ACN subsidiary in South Korea.

($1 = Y123)

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections