Abstract:

　　Japan Polypropylene Corp. will close two relatively old polypropylene plants in 2011 to　reduce costs, the company announced late Thursday. The company will shut a 90,000 mt/year　PP plant at Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, in May 2011. The plant has been in operation since　1970. Then, in June, it will bring down a 79,000 mt/year plant in Ichihara, Chiba　Prefecture, which had been operated since 1967. A company s

ource said Friday that as demand

　　in the domestic market was falling for PP, the company had to restructure its operations to　enhance the competitiveness of its PP, and the closure of these two plants would be in line　with that. The plants would be scrapped, the source said. Japan Polypropylene is owned by　Japan Polychem (65%) and Chisso (35%). Japan Polychem is a wholly owned subsidiary of　Mitsubishi Chemical. Japan Polypropylene currently has 11 PP plants in Japan with a total　capacity of 1.244 million mt/year.