Kuraray completes Niigata production facility

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Kuraray Co Ltd recently held a ceremony at its Niigata Plant in Tainai City, Niigata Prefecture, to mark the completion of a new production facility capable of mass producing 5,000 tons of the KURARITY acrylic thermoplastic elastomer annually.

The KURARITY acrylic thermoplastic elastomer is a block copolymer composed of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA). It features MMA’s transparency and weather resistance as well as BA’s elasticity and adhesive qualities. Kuraray is the first company in the world to successfully achieve commercial production of this elastomer.

Following the construction of a pilot plant at the Kashima Plant in 2004 and in light of the progress it has made in terms of market development and manufacturing technologies, Kuraray decided to establish mass-production facilities at the Niigata Plant last year. This is also in line with one of the company’s key management issues under the current medium-term action plan “GS-Twins.”

Kuraray is accelerating the market development of KURARITY, the application of which is expected to expand in the optical and molding material fields.