Mitsui Chemicals and Asahi Kasei, two leaders in the Japanese nonwovens industry, have announced a plan to form a new integrated company combining their nonwovens businesses with a tentative start date of October 2, 2023. This plan will be carried out through a corporation-type demerger enabling the establishment of the new integrated company pending the approval of authorities in Japan and Thailand, where the two companies have operations.
 
Under the proposed plan, all of Mitsui Chemicals’ nonwovens businesses with the exception of its SWP fibrillated polyolefin fiber will be integrated with Asahi Kasei’s spunbond and cartridge filter business. The new company will be known as Mitsui Chemicals Asahi Life Materials Co. and it will be based in Tokyo, Japan. Mistui will own slightly more than 60% of the company while Asahi Kasei will hold the remaining shares. Sales are estimated at ¥48.3 billion or about $370 million annually.

The Japanese sites for the company will include Mitsui’s Sunrex subsidiary in Mie, Japan as well as its Nogoya Works plant in Aichi. Meanwhile, Asahi Kasei’s plant in Moriyama will provide outsourced production. Overseas sites including both companies’ Thailand operations, which will continue to carry out production and sales as subsidiaries of the integrated company. Asahi Kasei’s spunbond operation in Moriyama will be merged into the company by way of an absorption-type merger at a later date.