摘要：

Daicel Corp(headquartered in Osaka)and Inabata & Co(also headquartered in Osaka)have established a joint venture-Novacel Co Ltd-which began operating with effect from 1 July 2024.The joint venture is owned 66.7% by Inabata and 33.3% by Daicel.In future,Novacel will be treated as a consolidated majority-owned subsidiary in Inabata's accounts.Novacel(headquartered in Tokyo)will have an initial capital base of Yen 50 M.Daicel will contribute its Daicel Miraizu plastics masterbatch and compounding business to the joint venture,including assets located in Japan,Hong Kong and Thailand.Daicel's businesses in styrene-acrylonitrile(SAN),cellulose acetate,water-soluble polymers and barrier films for packaging will remain with Daicel Miraizu;they will not be transferred to Novacel.The divestment of the Daicel Miraizu assets will enable the parent company to focus on its core activities,including:ceramide,polyglycerols,chiral columns and other medical and life science products;plastic film for electronic devices;airbag inflators,pyrofuses and other products for automotive safety applications;acetate tow,acetic acid and derivatives,ketene derivatives;and the Polyplastics range of engineering polymers.Polyplastics was originally set up in 1964 as a 55:45 joint venture between Daicel and Celanese Corp(formerly Hoechst Celanese,headquartered in Texas).In 2020,Daicel paid Yen 168.5 bn(or $1.575 bn)to buy-out its joint venture partner,so that Polyplastics became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daicel.It has a global workforce of nearly 2400.For the year to end-March 2024,Polyplastics reported sales revenue at Yen 187 bn,derived from selling:acetal copolymer(POM);polybutylene terephthalate(PBT);polyethylene terephthalate(PET);polyphenylene sulfide(PPS);liquid crystal polymers(LCPs);and cyclic olefin copolymers(COCs).Polyplastics is the global market leader in POM and LCPs,with market shares of 19% and 35% respectively.It is also one of the world's five largest suppliers of PPS and PBT,with global market shares of 13% and 8% respectively.

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