Mitsui Chemicals will produce polypropylene composites

Mitsui Chemicals Co., Ltd. announced that it will produce glass fiber reinforced polypropylene materials at the Anesaki plant in Shimabara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The production facility will be built by Puriman, a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals (65%) and Idemitsu (35%), with a design capacity of 3,500 tons/year, scheduled for completion in September 2019.

It is understood that the composite material made by melt-mixing polypropylene resin and long glass fiber, in addition to light weight, has a beautiful appearance and achieves a good balance between hardness and impact resistance. The product developed by Mitsui Chemicals has been applied to the interior of the unpainted rear door of the car.

Mitsui Chemicals said that the increasingly strict environmental regulations and the shift of automobiles to new energy sources have led to an increasing demand for automotive composite materials. In terms of automobile production, fiber reinforced resins will increasingly be used to replace metal materials.