Tokyo, Japan—Tosoh Corporation will revise prices upward by at least ¥15 per kilogram for polyethylene resins to be shipped on and after October 1, 2012. The new prices will apply to all low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (L-LDPE), ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), Melthene, and TOSOH-HMS products.
Crude oil and naphtha prices continue to soar. Crude oil prices especially have been driven upward by the European debt crisis and by huge growth in demand from Korea, Taiwan, and other economies.
Naphtha prices, meanwhile, are forecast to rise further. There is some concern that prices could exceed ¥57,000 per kilogram in the fourth quarter of calendar 2012 (October to December 2012). Such an increase would result in an unavoidable rise in Tosoh’s indirect expenses, such as auxiliary feedstock and logistics.
Tosoh has made every effort to reduce its costs, including its fixed expenses. This significantly worsening cost situation is beyond our control. So we have decided to promptly apply new prices to ensure a continued stable supply of our polyethylene resins.
TOSOH CORPORATION
WHO WE ARE
Tosoh Corporation is a Japanese chemical company established in 1935 and listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is the parent of the Tosoh Group, which comprises 130 companies worldwide and a multiethnic workforce of over 11,000 people and generated net sales of ¥687.1 billion (US$8.4 billion at the year-end rate of ¥82.19 to the US dollar) in fiscal 2012, ended March 31, 2012.
WHAT WE DO
Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The Company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh's petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene, while its advanced materials business serves the global semiconductor, display, and solar industries. Tosoh has also pioneered sophisticated bioscience systems that are used for the monitoring of life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes and certain cancers, and to prevent epidemics by identifying pathogenic microbes. In addition, Tosoh develops products and provides services to purify water and to monitor the environment as part of a commitment to a sustainable future.
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