Sekisui Chemical to Double Dutch Output of Automotive Resin

Sekisui Chemical Co. said Wednesday that it will double its Netherlands production capacity for the automotive resin polyvinyl butyral (PVB) in 2010.

PVB is a raw material for an interlayer used in automobile windshields. It offers sound insulation and shatter-resistance.

By July 2010, about 10 billion yen (US$107.4 million) will be invested to add a production line at Sekisui Chemical's Dutch factory to allow that facility to make PVB for 27 million vehicles a year. The company also produces PVB in Shiga Prefecture, and the combined capacity will increase 23 per cent to 81 million vehicles' worth of PVB.

The material to be produced at the Dutch factory will be supplied to an outside interlayer film factory in the Netherlands, as well as Sekisui Chemical's own plants in Thailand and the U.S.

Sekisui Chemical is the world's top producer of automotive interlayer film with a 42 per cent share. While the firm commands more than 80 per cent of the Japanese market, it has a weaker presence in the U.S. and Europe. So Sekisui Chemical is stepping up operations in these regions to lift sales.