Asahi Kasei to Exit MMA and PMMA Businesses
The Japanese chemical group Asahi Kasei has announced that it will end the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer and other chemicals in Kawasaki City, restructure the site, and focus on its Energy & Infrastructure division.
Asahi Kasei announced on May 27 that it will withdraw from the methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, cyclohexyl methacrylate (CHMA), PMMA acrylic resin and SB latex business. Production of these chemicals at the plant in Kawasaki City is scheduled to end between March 2026 and September 2027. The production of acetonitrile at this plant will also be discontinued and all facilities will be restructured. Asahi Kasei expects an extraordinary loss of around 25 billion yen (around €150 million) for the restructuring in the current financial year.
The Japanese chemical group stated that the reason for the production shutdown was that demand had deteriorated due to the expansion of petrochemical products in China and that production of the products in Kawasaki City had therefore become unprofitable and had to be scaled back.
The annual production capacity of the affected products at the Asahi Kasei plant is approximately 100,000 tons for MMA monomers (planned end of production: September 2026), 40,000 tons for PMMA resins (end: September 2026) and 36,000 tons for SB latex (end: September 2027). Acetonitrile production is estimated at 14,000 tons; no figures were provided for CHMA, which is scheduled to be discontinued in March 2026. The date of the end of acetonitrile production will be determined in consultation with customers. Asahi Kasei will continue to produce acetonitrile through its subsidiary in South Korea, which also supplies customers in Japan.
Other jobs will be sought internally for the 190 employees in the affected business.
Following this restructuring, the Kawasaki plant will focus on the production of synthetic rubber such as solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) and ion exchange membranes, which are seen as the basis for strategic growth areas such as PEM electrolysis and hydrogen production.
