Mitsui Chemicals to close phenol plant at its Ichihara orks
Mitsui Chemicals announces that it has decided to close the phenol plant at its Ichihara Works by no later than fiscal 2026.
The Mitsui Chemicals Group’s Basic & Green Materials Business Sector includes the phenol business. They are aiming to redefine itself as a sustainable green chemicals business centered around competitive derivatives.
The Group works toward an optimized production setup at their crackers line with demand. They will need to ensure that its derivatives are competitive. This need prompted the Group to begin restructuring its Basic & Green Materials Business Sector shortly after the 2008 global financial crisis. The Group is now further accelerating its efforts toward this end as part of a second phase of restructuring, which will include the newly announced plant closure.
Mitsui Chemicals currently produces phenol at three locations – Ichihara in Chiba, Takaishi in Osaka and Shanghai in China. Following the launch of phenol production at the Ichihara Works in 1970, Mitsui Chemicals’ phenol business continued to grow. It was driven by rising demand for key derivatives – bisphenol A and phenolic resin.
Business environment more difficult
Since 2022, however, a range of factors have made the business environment more difficult. This includes falling domestic demand, as well as a drastic oversupply on account of new production facilities launched in China and other parts of Asia. Mitsui Chemicals has responded with a range of rationalization efforts to sustain the business. But Mitsui Chemicals has now decided that it is no longer feasible to secure the profitability needed to maintain phenol production at its Ichihara Works.
While the phenol plant at the Ichihara Works will cease operations, Mitsui Chemicals intends to maintain a steady supply of products to its customers by building a phenol chain with high capital efficiency and stable profitability.
Mitsui Chemicals’ Basic & Green Materials Business Sector supplies materials to a wide range of industries that together act as the backbone of society. And going forward, this business sector will pursue a green chemical transition by replacing petrochemical raw materials with alternatives such as bio-based hydrocarbons and chemical recycling.
Overview of the phenol plant to be closed
| Products | Phenol, acetone, α-methylstyrene |
| Production facilities | Within Ichihara Works (Ichihara, Chiba) |
| Production capacity | 190,000 tons/year |
| Plant closure schedule | By fiscal 2026 |
The table below shows how the newly announced plant closure will fit into Mitsui Chemicals’ ongoing initiative to improve capital efficiency in the Basic & Green Materials Business Sector.
Progress of initiative to improve capital efficiency
Gray boxes = restructuring White boxes = bolstering downstream businesses
In pursuing portfolio reform as part of its VISION 2030 Long-Term Business Plan, Mitsui Chemicals aims to become a truly global specialty company by leaning on the two key pillars of a high-growth, high-profitability global specialty chemicals business and a sustainable green chemicals business centered on competitive derivatives.
Mitsui Chemicals’ Basic & Green Materials Business Sector supplies materials to a wide range of industries that together act as the backbone of society. And going forward, this business sector will pursue a green chemical transition by replacing petrochemical raw materials with alternatives such as bio-based hydrocarbons and chemical recycling. These efforts will drive a green shift in important industries where Japan is globally competitive, including semiconductors, automobiles and pharmaceuticals, helping in turn to build a sustainable society.
