Asahi Kasei to shut MMA, CHMA, PMMA, SB latex lines; reconfigure acetonitrile

Due to high costs and oversupply situation, Japan’s Asahi Kasei Corp. has decided to discontinue its businesses for methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, cyclohexyl methacrylate (CHMA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin (product names: Delpet and Delpowder), and SB (styrene-butadiene) latex, and to reconfigure the supply of acetonitrile (closure of refining plant in Kawasaki), thereby signalling a major shift in strategy.

As a result, Asahi Kasei expects to record business structure improvement expenses of approximately ¥25 billion as extraordinary loss in its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. For Asahi Kasei, once a key player in MMA and resin markets, this decision marks a pivotal retreat and a recalibration of its industrial ambitions.

The decision was made as part of a broad review of the business portfolio and reallocation of management resources in accordance with this basic policy, it adds. Asahi Kasei’s PMMA resin, SB latex, and acetonitrile businesses began in 1963, and its MMA business began in 1974. Each of these products are manufactured at the company’s Kawasaki Works, and have been supplied to customers around the world for over half a century.

The company attributed the exit to a combination of prolonged economic stagnation, rising feedstock prices, and an irreversible supply-demand imbalance caused by China’s rapid capacity expansion in the chemical sector. These factors have driven down plant utilisation rates, making continued production unviable, it said.

The timeline for the shutdowns is as follows:

· MMA monomer: cease production and sales by September 2026

· CHMA: operations end in March 2026

· Acrylic resins: production stops by September 2026, sales end by September 2027

· SB latex: cease manufacturing by September 2027, with sales ending December 2027

Part of Asahi Kasei’s strategy is to improve capital efficiency through business portfolio transformation from a medium- to long-term perspective. With the structural reform decided, the Kawasaki Works will be the most important site for concentration of management resources on businesses such as ion-exchange membrane process chlor-alkali electrolysis, hydrogen-related, etc., as part of Energy & Infrastructure, which is positioned as a growth potential field.

This is expected to enhance the sustainable growth and competitiveness of businesses in Energy & Infrastructure.

Asahi Kasei says it expects to record business structure improvement expenses of approximately ¥25 billion as extraordinary loss in its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. As the loss was factored into the consolidated forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, which was announced on May 9, 2025, there are no changes to the forecast at this time.

SUBSCRIBE to Get the Latest Updates from PRA    Click Here»