Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo (president: Shinya Ishizu) has decided to withdraw from its domestic PVC sales operations as of December this year.

PVC is mainly used in the fields of construction and civil engineering for pipes or construction materials, etc. but domestic demand for PVC has recently been declining due to such factors as a decrease in domestic public works projects and the number of new housing starts alongside with accelerating overseas PVC user shift, its domestic demand in 2001 came to 1.5 million tons, just over 70 percent of its peak time level. And our PVC sales volume has also dipped to 20,000 tons, corresponding to 25 percent of its peak time level.

In view of this domestic demand situation, Kureha Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. to which we commission PVC production, has recently expressed its intention to transfer its PVC business to Taiyo Vinyl Chloride Co., Ltd. We have decided to withdraw from domestic PVC business operations, seizing this opportunity, because a future recovery in its domestic demand cannot be expected.

We shall continue our PVC business operations in Indonesia, Thailand, and Pakistan, because demand for PVC in these countries is expected to grow in the future. And we plan to continue VCM business operations at a venture company named Keiyo Monomer Co., Ltd. jointly set up by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Kureha Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd, because demand for VCM is expected to accelerate in Asian markets centering around the Chinese market. Also, we shall continue our electrolysis at our Chiba factory , as our core business.

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[For reference]
Our Domestic PVC business operations