March 6, 2020
Asahi Kasei Corp.

Asahi Kasei has decided to discontinue its business for the styrenic resins SAN, ABS, and ACS (product names: Stylac™ and Esterlloy™) as described below.

The business to be discontinued began with the 1962 start-up of the SAN plant in Kawasaki, now part of Asahi Kasei’s Kawasaki Works, followed by the 1964 start-up of the ABS plant at the same site (function transferred to Mizushima in 1978). The ACS business began in 1995.

The ABS plant at Asahi Kasei’s Mizushima Works, which started up in 1967, was closed in 2015 due to deteriorating profitability as domestic Japanese demand decreased significantly.

The decision for business discontinuation was based on a judgment that there were no clear prospects to establish the superiority of Asahi Kasei’s products in the expanding global ABS market and that it would be difficult to formulate a future expansion strategy.

Under its Cs+ for Tomorrow 2021 medium-term management initiative, Asahi Kasei is prioritizing and allocating management resources to develop a business portfolio of sustainable and high value-added businesses.

Resources of the discontinued business will be reallocated to other businesses of Asahi Kasei.

Outline of the discontinuation

Schedule for plant closure

March 31, 2021

Schedule for cessation of sales

March 31, 2021

Disposition of employees

To be reassigned to other businesses of Asahi Kasei

Overview of the discontinuing business

Products

SAN resin, ABS resin, and ACS resin (product names: Stylac™ and Esterlloy™)

Applications

Office equipment, electrical appliances, vehicles, general merchandise, etc.

Manufacturing site

SAN plant at Kawasaki Works

Production capacity

Not disclosed

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