By Daiki Kawasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Asahi Kasei Corp., Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. on Monday announced that they have established a limited liability partnership (LLP) to decarbonize their ethylene production facilities in western Japan.

The three major Japanese petrochemical companies will discuss upgrading the LLP to a joint venture by around 2030 to optimize their ethylene production systems.

The project covers a facility in Okayama Prefecture jointly operated by Asahi Kasei and Mitsubishi Chemical and a facility owned by Mitsui Chemicals in Osaka Prefecture. The three companies will invest 500,000 yen each into the LLP, which was established on Aug. 19.

Discussions on the collaboration began in spring last year, with its goal being decarbonization and enhanced competitiveness. Going forward, the petrochemical companies will accelerate discussions on issues such as the introduction of environmentally conscious production techniques and consolidating and downsizing their facilities.

Ethylene is used as a raw material for plastics and other products. The domestic production volume has been decreasing because of overproduction by Chinese manufacturers and a drop in demand. According to the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association, domestic production was 4.98 million tons in 2024, dropping below 5 million tons for the first time in 37 years.

Companies such as Maruzen Petrochemical Co. and Eneos Corp. have already decided to scale down their production systems.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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September 02, 2025 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)

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