Mitsubishi Chemical withdraws from PET bottle business

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. has decided to withdraw from the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle business, as per Chemweek.

It will stop the production of PET bottles by December 2025 and will terminate the sales in March 2026. It produces PET bottles at Hiratsuka and Nagahama, Japan.

The company’s PET bottles cater to several needs, mainly for seasonings and alcohol. Mitsubishi Chemical said the recent rise in raw material prices and logistics costs has made the business extremely unprofitable.

The company has “attempted to restructure the business, including by reducing fixed costs, but after carefully examining the surrounding business environment, it concluded that improving profitability and achieving future growth will be difficult, and have decided to withdraw from this business,” it said.

We remind, Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG) has decided to cease production of chemical products at its Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC) and Shinryo Corp plants. Both plants, owned by MCG subsidiaries, are located in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The process of shutting down production will be carried out in stages from March 2026 to March 2027. The MCC plant produces ammonia, methanol, formalin, wood glues, fatty acid amides, and high-purity industrial chemicals including hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and triallyl isocyanurate derivatives.

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Kuraray has acquired ISCC Plus certification for its thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) Septon and Hybrar as well as liquid rubber produced at its Kashima plant in Japan, as per Polymerupdate.

ISCC Plus ensures that certified items, such as bio-mass and recycled raw materials, are properly managed via the use of the mass-balance approach throughout their supply chains, including manufacturing process.

Kuraray plans to continue to expand its lineup of products that contribute to the natural and living envi-ronments.
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Kemira Oyj said it has completed the acquisition of the iron sulfate coagulant business of Thatcher Group (Salt Lake City, Utah) in the East Coast region of the US. Financial details have not been disclosed, as per Chemweek.

Annual revenue of the acquired business is less than USD10 million, Kemira said.

The transaction includes certain customers and assets of the business, but no employees will move to Kemira in the transaction as Kemira will serve the new customers from its existing manufacturing facilities, the company said.

“The acquisition is highly synergistic with our existing operations. It is also one step towards our aim to double the revenue in water,” said Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen, executive vice president/water solutions at Kemira.

Thatcher Group is a diversified chemicals manufacturer and distributor.

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IHI Corp., Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Mizuho Bank, and Tokyo Century Corp. have signed a memorandum (MoU) of understanding to explore investment opportu-nities in a green ammonia project under development in India, as per Polymerupdate.

The project, which will have a production capacity of around 400,000 t/y of green ammonia, will be estab-lished in collaboration with Acme Group. Production is anticipated to begin by 2030. The green ammonia will be exported to Japan to cater to various users, such as chemical manufacturers and power generation compa-nies.

To realize a robust ammonia value chain, expertise in ammonia production, transportation and utilization, as well as international economic cooperation and de-velopment support are essential, the companies noted.

With extensive knowledge and experience in these domains, the six companies will collaborate to evaluate the establishment of a special purpose company for ammonia production and investment participation.

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C2X Ltd. (Liverpool, UK), a developer of green methanol, and Eneos Corp. (Tokyo) have jointly announced a combined investment of $100 million in C2X from Eneos and existing shareholders A.P. Moller Holding and A.P. Moller – Maersk AS (Copenhagen, Denmark), as per Chemweek.

The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory clearances.

The proceeds from the investment will primarily be used to fund the final development phase of the Beaver Lake Renewable Energy (BLRE) project, which C2X is developing together with SunGas Renewables Inc. (Des Plaines, Illinois) at Alexandria, Louisiana.

Once operational, BLRE will produce over 500,000 metric tons per year of green methanol and is in discussions to secure long-term offtake from Maersk and other high-quality customers in the shipping, chemicals and industrial sectors. The project will use SunGas’ S-1000 gasification system to convert biomass into low-carbon methanol.

The project will also capture and permanently sequester approximately 1 million metric tons per year of surplus biogenic CO2 from the gasification process, generating high-quality and cost-competitive CO2 removal credits.

The multibillion-dollar project aims to start construction in the second half of 2026. It will support the local forestry industry by providing an outlet for biomass that was previously used in paper mills that have closed over time. This investment will also be used to advance the rest of C2X’s portfolio, comprising projects in Spain, Egypt and other US locations, said Eneos.

Eneos said its investment is accompanied by a partnership with C2X, which considers methanol offtake and the application of SunGas’ gasification technology into its system portfolio.

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