Chisso (Head office, Tokyo; President, Shun'ichi Okada), Asahi Kasei Chemicals (Head office, Tokyo; President, Taketsugu Fujiwara), and Mitsubishi Chemical (Head office, Tokyo; President, Yoshimitsu Kobayashi) have reached basic agreement and initiated detailed studies for the consolidation of the fertilizer businesses operated by their affiliates Chisso-Asahi Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (Head office, Tokyo; President, Takeshi Sato) and Mitsubishi Chemical Agri, Inc. (Head office, Tokyo; President, Seiichiro Yoshimoto).

 

The three parties will advance negotiations on the method of consolidation, capitalization ratios, and other specifics, with October 2009 as a target date for implementation.  Details will be disclosed promptly as they are determined.

 

The Japanese operating environment for fertilizers has become extremely challenging, with declining fertilizer demand resulting from decreases in both the area under cultivation and the amount of fertilizer applied per unit of area.  In addition, increased costs for fertilizer precursor materials have made a fundamental rationalization and streamlining of the domestic fertilizer industry unavoidable.

 

Under these circumstances, the parties will perform detailed studies for the consolidation of their fertilizer businesses with the objective of strengthening the operating base for more stable supply with swift product development which corresponds to customer requirements.

 

Corporate profile of fertilizer affiliates*

Name:	Chisso-Asahi Fertilizer	Mitsubishi Chemical Agri
President:	Takeshi Sato	Seiichiro Yoshimoto
Head office:	Tokyo	Tokyo
Establishment:	July 1, 1969	April 1, 2002
Business line:	Production and sale of fertilizer	Production and sale of fertilizer
Sales:	\20.0 billion	\23.6 billion
Employees:	241	84
Plants:	Fuji, Minamata, Tobata	Kurosaki, Onahama, Mizushima
Laboratory:	Fuji	Kurosaki
Sales branches:	Tokyo, Sapporo, Sendai, Fuji, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kumamoto	Tokyo, Fukushima, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka
Paid-in capital:	\305 million	\1,500 million
Shareholders:	Chisso Group – 65% Asahi Kasei Chemicals – 35%	Mitsubishi Chemical – 95.3% Nippon Kasei Chemical Co., Ltd. – 4.7%

* As of March 31, 2008.

 

For more information, please contact:

Chisso Corp.	Asahi Kasei Corp.	Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.
Corporate Administration Dept.	Corporate Communications	Public Relations and Investor Relations Dept.
Phone: +81-(0)3-3243-6370	Phone: +81-(0)3-3296-3008	Phone: +81-(0)3-6414-3730
	Fax: +81-(0)3-3296-3162