Showa Denko to Commercialize High-quality 1,3-BG

TOKYO, Oct 31, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko (SDK; TSE:4004) will commercialize 1,3-butylene glycol (1,3-BG), used mainly as raw material for cosmetics. SDK will complete 1,3-BG production facilities in its Oita Complex by the end of 2019, with product sales scheduled for April 2020.

1,3-BG is formulated as a moisturizing ingredient in a wide variety of cosmetics, and demand is expected to grow 10% per year as Asian cosmetics demand increases. SDK will contribute to the growing Asian market and the raw material supply with high-quality 1,3-BG, produced with original technology, along with ethylene, in the SDK Oita Complex.

The Showa Denko Group has a vision of becoming a corporate group of Koseiha businesses (individualized businesses), which can maintain high levels of profitability and stability in each business sector, and aims to make more than half of its business sectors Koseiha businesses by 2025. As a chemicals group, we have promoted a business structure that generates stable and high profits regardless of market conditions. Going forward, we aim to become a chemicals business with the highest level of competitiveness in the East Asia region, increasing our profitability through commercializing new formulas for acetyl-based products, and strengthening business collaboration with industrial complexes.

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; TSE:4004, ADR:SHWDY), a major manufacturer of chemical products, serves a wide range of fields from heavy industry to electronics and computer industries. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial, high-performance and high-purity gases and chemicals for semicon and other industries, and the Inorganics Sector provides ceramic products, such as alumina, abrasives, refractory and graphite electrodes and fine carbon products. The Aluminum Sector provides aluminum materials and high-value-added fabricated aluminum, the Electronics Sector provides HD media, compound semiconductors such as ultra high-bright LEDs and rare earth magnetic alloys, and the Advanced Battery Materials Department (ABM) provides lithium-ion battery components. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp/english/.
Contact:
Showa Denko K.K., Public Relations Office, Tel: 81-3-5470-3235