AGC will invest JPY 3.7 billion in a new production site for pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients at its subsidiary, AGC Wakasa Chemicals Co., Ltd., scheduled to start operation around November 2012.
AGC has announced that it will establish a new production site for pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients at its subsidiary, AGC Wakasa Chemicals Co., Ltd. AGC will invest JPY 3.7 billion in the new plant scheduled to start operation around November 2012. This will approximately double the current production capacity for pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients, and contribute to the AGC Group’s aim to achieve net sales of JPY 15 billion or more in this business segment in 2014.
As the elderly population grows in developed countries and the world faces food supply issues in conjunction with the worldwide population increase, demand for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals is expected to continue growing. Hence the demand for intermediates and active ingredients used in the production of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals is also projected to rise. The AGC Group has been making use of its strength in fluorine chemical technology in providing fluorinated compounds as well as other pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients to date, and will further reinforce the Group’s production capacity to accommodate the expected growth in demand.
The AGC Group, with Tokyo-based Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. at its core, is a world-leading supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals and other high-tech materials and components. Drawing on more than a century of technical innovation, the AGC Group has developed world-class expertise in fields including glass, fluorine chemistry and ceramics technologies. The group employs some 50,000 people worldwide and generates annual sales of more than USD 15 billion through business in about 30 countries.