Japan's Sumitomo Chemical announces suspension of production at some general-purpose resin plants

Sumitomo Chemical published an announcement on their plan to cut down production capacity on general-purpose resins, applied mainly to food packaging films and other products such as films for food packaging, because of the decline in domestic sales. According to the announcement, some of the plants in the Prefecture of Chiba will partially suspended production. Beyond 10% will be cut off total capacity. Work starts at the earliest at the end of November and believably mute by the end of March 2025. 

Production has been drastically curtailed for low-density polyethylene classification, for the most part, applicable to foods packaging films and seasoning bottles. Sumitomo's total annual production capacity dwells at 172,000 tons, with shut down slated for 20,000 tons. The whole year's earnings forecast for March 2025 takes into account these changes. The company assured that their attention would be channeled towards food films and products with higher-value-added components and profitability. Ethylene-the raw material of low-density polyethylene-is supplied by Keiyo Ethylene, which was jointly financed with Maruzen Petrochemical. Sumitomo Chemical stated that the company applied to Maruzen Petrochemical to halt the product pickup rate from Keiyo Ethylene and cut raw material procurement in its bid to raise profitability.