Sumitomo Chemical to Construct Second Commercial Plant of Polyethersulfone (PES) in Chiba

Jul. 21, 2016

Sumitomo Chemical has decided to construct a new production facility for polyethersulfone (PES) at its Chiba Works in Ichihara City, Chiba, Japan. The new facility will have a production capacity of 3,000 tons per year and be scheduled to start commercial scale production in 2018. When the facility becomes fully operational, Sumitomo Chemical's total production capacity of PES, combined with the existing facility in its Ehime Works in Niihama, Ehime, will grow twofold.

PES is one of high performance engineering plastics. It is a thermoplastic resin with excellent properties in heat resistance, dimensional stability, flame resistance, and hot water resistance. Sumitomo Chemical’s SUMIKAEXCEL PES has a long-standing track record of supply to the market as an additive that confers toughness to carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) used in aircraft. It is also used in dialysis membranes and automotive applications. In addition to a solid growth of demand projected for aircraft CFRP and dialysis membranes, PES is likely to find expansion of demand in automotive applications in the future. To meet such an increase in demand and also considering possible benefits from production facilities operated in dispersed locations in enhancing the Company's stable supply capabilities, Sumitomo Chemical has decided to construct a new production facility at its Chiba Works.

Sumitomo Chemical is steadily expanding business in the field of the environment and energy, positioning the field as one of its priority business areas where high market growth is expected. Through proactively offering proposals of products and services based on a basic principle of promoting "business finely-tuned to customers' needs", Sumitomo Chemical will continue to strengthen the business involving PES and other high performance engineering plastics.

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