Tokyo, Japan—Tosoh Corporation announced today that it will expand its production capacity for high-silica zeolite (HSZ®), one of its synthetic zeolite lines, at its Yokkaichi Complex. Construction of the expansion will begin in February; completion is scheduled for March 2013. The new facilities will double the Yokkaichi Complex’s annual HSZ production capacity. They will cost between ¥3.0 billion and ¥4.0 billion to build. As a result, the project has been selected by the Japanese government to receive financial assistance under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s domestic development scheme.
Tosoh is positioned in the market as a comprehensive manufacturer of synthetic zeolite. In addition to its HSZ series, the company produces Zeolum®. Zeolum has widespread use as a desiccant or adsorbent because of its strong adsorption, particularly gas adsorption, capabilities.
In comparison with Zeolum, HSZ features a high silica dioxide to aluminum oxide molecular ratio. Adjusting this ratio makes it possible to produce a synthetic zeolite with specific adsorption or catalytic properties. Because of its thermal and acid stability, HSZ is primarily used as a catalyst in the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries. Applications in the environmental cleaning field, meanwhile, are growing. HSZ can be used as a reduction catalyst for automobile emissions or as an adsorption material for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to reduce the burden that industry’s operations place on the environment.
Global demand for HSZ as a reduction catalyst for automobile emissions in particular is expected to steadily expand as governments in Japan, the United States, and Europe are implementing stricter automobile emission standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC).
HSZ is among the core products of Tosoh’s Advanced Materials Division. The company began producing HSZ at its Nanyo Complex, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1986. To meet high demand and avoid the risks involved in having only one production base for a product of which it had a high market share, Tosoh built a second HSZ production facility, at its Yokkaichi Complex, in March 2009. The new plant doubled Tosoh’s annual production capacity of HSZ. The just-announced expansion of the Yokkaichi Complex’s facilities will add 50% to the company’s annual HSZ production capacity. Tosoh will use the added capacity to aim for a top share of the global HSZ market.
In addition to synthetic zeolites, Tosoh’s Advanced Materials Division offers manganese oxide, zirconia, quartz and fabricated quartzware, and sputtering targets. The division plans to achieve further expansion of its business scope and to strengthen its earnings capability based on these product lines.
TOSOH CORPORATION
WHO WE ARE
Tosoh Corporation is a Japanese chemical company established in 1935 and listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is the parent of the Tosoh Group, which comprises 133 companies worldwide and a multiethnic workforce of over 11,000 people and generated net sales of ¥684.4 billion (US$8.2 billion at the year-end rate of ¥83.15 to the US dollar) in fiscal 2011, ended March 31, 2011.
WHAT WE DO
Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The Company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene, while its advanced materials business serves the global semiconductor, display, and solar industries. Tosoh has also pioneered sophisticated bioscience systems that are used for the rapid diagnosis of life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes and certain cancers, and to prevent epidemics by identifying pathogenic microbes. In addition, Tosoh develops products and provides services to purify water and to monitor the environment as part of a commitment to a sustainable future.
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