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Shin-Etsu Chemical is to expand the production capacity of its Akron, Ohio plant, which is engaged in the manufacturing and sales of silicones in the USA (Shin-Etsu Silicones of America, SESA).
The amount invested will be ¥2.4 billion (approx. US$364M), and the expansion work is aimed for completion in the middle of 2019.
This brings the company’s total investment in its silicones business over the past four years to ¥65bn (approx. US$9.9bn).
SESA’s Akron plant produces various silicone products that possess diversified forms and applications, such as high consistency silicone rubber, liquid silicone rubber for adhesives and sealing materials, silicones for cosmetics and heat-dissipating silicones for applications in automobiles and electronics parts.
The investment is to expand its production capacity for these silicone products and additionally to set up a new production facility for silicone emulsions.
Since 2014, Shin-Etsu Chemical has been proactively carrying out facility investments in its silicones business such as expanding the production capacity of its silicones plant in Thailand and obtaining new adjacent industrial land; expanding the production capacity of its plants in Japan; and constructing a new research building at its Silicone-Electronics Materials Research Center in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
SESA is the North American base of Shin-Etsu Chemical’s silicones business.
In addition to the silicone products produced at the Akron plant, SESA’s Freeport Plant in Texas is produces organo-functional silane.
Furthermore, Shin-Etsu opened a Technical Center in the State of New Jersey in 2015, as the company is continuing to focus on the expansion of its silicones business.
With its research, production and sales capabilities coming together as one, Shin-Etsu Chemical has achieved fruitful results in Japan and will go ahead with employing the same approach globally.
The new expansion project in the USA is part of this plan, and the company intends to continue to strive to capture the robustly growing demand for silicones in the US market.
