What is the purpose of the withdrawal of Japanese acrylic acid companies from the production field?

Quick answer: In practical UV formulation work, resin and monomer selection starts with the end-use property target, then tunes viscosity and cure response around it. Buyers usually shortlist a few matched packages, not a single magic raw material.

 

On April 8, the old Japanese petrochemical giant Idemitsu Kosan announced that it had decided to withdraw from the acrylic product business.

 

Acrylic is an organic compound synthesized from propylene and is used as a raw material for superabsorbent polymers, paints and adhesives. Idemitsu Kosan’s acrylic products business includes acrylic acid and butyl acrylate, and has been in this business for 30 years since 1992.

 

Idemitsu Kosan said that in recent years, the expansion of new acrylic equipment in Asia has led to oversupply and a deterioration of the market environment. Considering the future management policy, the company believes that it is difficult to continue operating.

 

According to the plan, Idemitsu Kosan will stop the operation of the 50,000-ton/year acrylic acid unit at the Aichi Refinery by March 2023, and withdraw from the acrylic acid product business.

The refinery’s petrochemical complex in central Aichi Prefecture has a production capacity of 50,000 tons/year of acrylic acid, which is made from propylene. Idemitsu outsources its BA production. It decided to exit the business against the backdrop of rising supplies in Asia.

The goal of the Japanese petrochemical industry is to optimize the business in response to global competition by shifting to high-performance products. Domestic joint venture Prime Polymer plans to shut down its 110,000 t/y polypropylene (PP) unit at the Anegasaki plant by 2023, while building a new 200,000 t/y PP plant in Ichihara by the end of 2024 to produce high-performance PP materials.

In recent years, in the face of pressures such as the gradual reduction of domestic demand in Japan, the decline of international competitiveness, and the substantial expansion of chemical production in China, the Middle East and North America, Japan’s chemical industry is accelerating its structural transformation, and exiting the basic chemical business has become one of the main options. . For example, Mitsui Chemicals announced on March 15 that it will close its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Otake Iwakuni, Japan in August 2023. Mitsubishi Chemical decided at the end of 2021 that it will withdraw from the petrochemical and coal chemical business in the next few years, leading the country’s basic chemical industry to integrate towards carbon neutrality.What is the purpose of the withdrawal of Japanese acrylic acid companies from the production field?

How buyers usually evaluate UV monomers and resin systems

Most successful UV formulations are built by choosing the backbone first and then tuning the reactive monomer package around the substrate, cure method, and end-use stress. That usually produces a more stable result than choosing materials by viscosity or price alone.

• Start from the final property target: hardness, flexibility, adhesion, and shrinkage rarely point to exactly the same raw-material package.
• Screen the reactive package as a whole: oligomer, monomer, and photoinitiator choices interact strongly in UV systems.
• Use viscosity as a tool, not the only decision rule: the easiest-processing material is not always the one that performs best after cure.
• Check the real substrate: plastic, metal, label film, gel systems, and coatings can reward very different polarity and cure-density balances.

Recommended product references

• CHLUMICRYL HPMA: Useful when more polarity and adhesion support are needed in the reactive package.
• CHLUMICRYL IBOA: A strong low-viscosity monomer reference when hardness and good flow both matter.
• CHLUMICRYL TMPTA: A standard reactive monomer benchmark when stronger crosslink density is required.
• CHLUMICRYL EO3-TMPTA: Helpful when viscosity and cure behavior need to be tuned around the base package.

FAQ for buyers and formulators

Can one UV monomer or resin solve every formulation problem?
Usually no. Commercially strong formulas depend on how several components work together to balance cure, adhesion, flow, and durability.

Why should monomers be screened together with oligomers?
Because monomers can change viscosity, cure rate, shrinkage, and substrate behavior enough to alter the final ranking of the same backbone resin.