The business restructuring process of Japanese chemical giant Mitsui Chemicals is still ongoing.

Mitsui Chemicals announced on September 2 that it has decided to withdraw from the styrene acrylic resin and polyester resin business for toner binders, and it is expected to stop production in the first half of fiscal 2025.

Mitsui Chemicals said that the profitability of the business has become increasingly severe due to the impact of intensified price competition, rising raw material prices, and the decline in printing demand caused by changes in working methods after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the company has taken all possible rationalization and cost reduction measures, it finally made a judgment that the revenue could not sustain the business and decided to withdraw from the business.

The production site of this business is located in Mobara, Japan. Mitsui Chemicals said that the impact of this business withdrawal on the performance of the Mitsui Chemicals Group is very slight, and the performance forecast remains unchanged.

It is reported that toner binder is the raw material of toner for printer and copier consumables. While combining with other raw materials that make up toner (dyes, paraffin, etc.), it helps to fix the toner on the paper by heating and melting.

Previously, Mitsui Chemicals proposed in its long-term business plan "VISION 2030" that it would take business portfolio transformation as its basic strategy and strive to become a truly global specialty company with "high-growth, high-profit global specialty chemical business" and "sustainable green chemical business with competitive derivatives as the core" as its two pillars.

Based on this goal, in recent years, Mitsui Chemicals has accelerated business restructuring and transformation and upgrading of high-performance products to improve its competitiveness.

In terms of closures, the 400,000 tons/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Otake, Iwakuni, Japan has been closed; it plans to close its 145,000 tons/year PET plant in Otake, Iwakuni in October 2024; and it plans to close its 190,000 tons/year phenol plant in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan by the end of fiscal 2026.

In terms of sales, Mitsui Chemicals transferred Mitsui Phenol Co., Ltd. located in Jurong Island, Singapore for US$330 million; on June 26 this year, it transferred its wholly-owned subsidiary Mitsui Chemicals Industrial Products Co., Ltd. to Maeda Kofiber Co., Ltd.; on July 1, it transferred the shares of its subsidiary Katsuzai Chemical to Tanaka Ai Holdings Co., Ltd.