Toyobo increases price of packaging film products

Toyobo Co. (Osaka, Japan) has decided to hike the prices of some of its packaging film products by 3% or more from May 1, 2025, mainly due to higher labor costs, as per Chemweek.

The products subject to price revision are biaxially oriented polypropylene film; biaxially oriented polyester film; cast polypropylene film; linear low density polyethylene film; biaxially oriented nylon film; transparent vapor deposition film; and heat shrinkable polyester film.

For the fiscal first nine months ended Dec. 31, the packaging film business posted moderate recovery in cargo movement, and it executed price revisions due to higher feedstock costs.

We remind, Toyobo (headquartered in Osaka) is rebuilding a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film plant at its Tsuruga plant. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2026. This will allow the plant to manufacture Toyobo's Cosmoshine SRF film, Toyobo said in a press release. According to the company, it is the only PET film for protecting the polarizer in liquid crystal displays.

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Lanxess AG has completed the sale of its urethane systems business to Ube Corp. The cost of the transaction was €460 million, said the company.

All relevant antitrust authorities had granted the necessary approvals for the transaction, which was announced in October 2024.

“With this sale, we conclude our portfolio transformation and at the same time achieve a substantial further reduction of net financial debt,” said Matthias Zachert, chairman of the Board of Management of Lanxess.

Lanxess’ urethane systems business comprises five manufacturing sites globally as well as application laboratories in the US, Europe and China. In the Americas, the business operates manufacturing plants in North Carolina, New Jersey and Sao Paulo. It also owns a technical center in Connecticut.

In Europe, the business operates a manufacturing unit at Accrington, UK and a technical center at Latina, Italy. In China, it owns a production unit at Nantong and a technical center at Shanghai.

Ube previously said Lanxess business is one of the leaders in producing high-performance polyurethane (PU) resins for thermosetting urethane elastomers.

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Ube Corp. has established a new M&A Promotion Office. It will report directly to the company’s president, as per Chemweek.

The company said the new office will focus on executing M&As with companies that “possess unique technologies and are achieving or expected to achieve profitability in growth markets that contribute to the environment, health, and a fulfilling life, and creating synergies by leveraging the acquired companies.”

It said in the rapidly changing field of specialty chemicals, where market trends and technological advancements are dynamic, it is essential to incorporate inorganic growth in addition to organic technology development and business expansion to continuously create new businesses based on long-term strategies.

According to the company, the M&A Promotion Office will transform the group by acquiring technologies and resources necessary for growth and by gaining new core competencies, thereby creating new pillars of business.

The company plans to announce its business growth strategy in May, aiming for sales of Yen1 trillion ($6.6 billion) and operating profit of Yen100 billion or more by 2035–40.

Its business units include polymers and chemicals, specialty products, machinery, pharmaceuticals, power and cement.

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The European Parliament has adopted its position on the EU Commission’s proposed “one substance, one assessment” package to increase the simplicity and transparency of EU chemical rules, according to statement by the EU Parliament on April 1, said Chemweek.

“The package consists of three proposals to streamline the safety assessments of chemicals across EU legislation by improving the availability and accessibility of data related to chemicals and maximizing synergies between the EU agencies involved,” the parliament said.

The package will establish a common data platform and “one-stop shop” access to data on chemicals compiled under EU legislation related to hazards, physico-chemical properties, presence in the environment, emissions, uses, and environmental sustainability, it said.

The data platform will also help to better estimate the level of exposure of EU citizens to chemicals by systematically collecting data about the levels of chemicals found in people, it added.

MEPs strengthened the Commission’s text by requiring the inclusion of information on chemicals present in products and on safer alternatives to substances of concern, the parliament said.

“[They] want to encourage the submission of all research data on chemicals, making it obligatory for public funded research, including at the national level, and facilitate data collection through a more standardized process,” it said.

Studies on chemicals undertaken to fulfil regulatory obligations will have to be notified to the data platform to increase transparency and limit duplication, the parliament added.

“MEPs also highlighted the need to better detect early warnings signs on emerging chemical risks and suggested improving the mechanism used for detection by including additional data sources and better defining the follow-up actions required following a warning,” it said.

The parliament also said it adopted its position on how to improve cooperation between the relevant EU agencies involved in scientific and technical work on chemicals, in particular the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Following the adoption of the package, the parliament is now ready to start negotiations with the European Council on the final text of the legislation, it said.

This reform forms part of the 2020 EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to better protect citizens and the environment, and boost innovation to develop safe and sustainable chemicals. It forms part of the EU’s zero pollution vision for 2050.

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China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. (Xinxiang), one of China’s largest producers of coal-based urea, reported revenue of 23.1 billion renminbi ($3.1 billion) in 2024, down 1% due to lower product prices, as per Chemweek.

Its profit rose by 23% to 1.4 billion renminbi. In 2024, the revenue distribution across the group’s segments was as follows: fertilizer accounted for 58%, chemicals for 37%, medical intermediates for 2% and others for 3%.

Revenue from the sales of urea increased 6.3% to 7.3 billion renminbi, primarily driven by a 29% increase in sales volume. With the expansion of production capacity, the production volume increased by 21%. The company said stricter environmental regulations led to a substantial rise in industrial demand, providing strong support for the group’s urea sales growth.

Revenue from sales of compound fertilizers stood at 5.9 billion renminbi, down 2%. According to the company, the increase in domestic grain production and abundant grain reserves led to rising pressure in the market supply, resulting in downward pressure on grain prices and delays in the downstream fertilizer stocking cycle, contributing to a 0.3% decrease in the sales volume. The price of raw materials declined, which led to a 2% decrease in the average selling price (ASP).

The gross profit margin from the sales of compound fertilizers increased to 15% in 2024. “Due to a relatively loose supply of raw materials, the prices of key materials such as phosphate fertilizers and potash fertilizers, decreased by 1% and 14% respectively, resulting in a 4% reduction in production costs,” it added. The company said by increasing the proportion of high-margin products, the sales of high-efficiency fertilizers grew by 4%.

Revenue in the methanol sector stood at 2.6 billion renminbi, up 14.5%. Due to the recovery of the domestic economy, the demand for basic chemicals from downstream manufacturing sectors, such as the automobile and electronics industries, gradually increased, driving a 16% rise in the group’s methanol sales volume.

Revenue from sales of urea solution for vehicles decreased by 13% to approximately 377 renminbi million. “With the promotion of environmental protection policies and the advancement of new energy technologies, the ownership of heavy-duty diesel trucks was on a declining trend. Meanwhile, the domestic economy remained weak, leading to a decrease in the transportation of bulk commodities, which resulted in reduced demand for large diesel vehicles,” it added. To alleviate the squeeze on profits, the company has decided to reduce its production by 13% and leverage flexible adjustments to ensure maximization of overall profitability. Additionally, the price support for urea solution for vehicles has weakened due to a decline in raw material costs, resulting in a 10.3% decrease in the ASP.

The company’s dimethylformamide (DMF) business reported a 14% rise in sales to 1.4 billion renminbi, led by a 36% rise in sales volume. DMF, as an important feedstock material, is widely used in industries such as pulp, pharmaceuticals and films. “Due to continuous optimisation of the industrial structure in China, the industrial demand has been increasing significantly”, it added.

Revenue from sales of liquid ammonia decreased by 42%, to 1.2 billion renminbi, in 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by a 33% decline in sales volume. The weakened support from front-end raw material coal prices led to a 15% drop in the ASP.

Revenue from sales of medical intermediates decreased by 21.3% to 485 million renminbi, mainly due to a 23.6% ASP decrease in the segment. In this segment, as the downstream demand for individual products gradually shrunk, such as tetra-acetyl ribose and hypoxanthine, the support for product prices weakened, thus pulling down the ASP of the entire segment.

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