Toyo Ink Group Expands Global Organic Pigments Business

The Toyo Ink Group is reinforcing its operating base by collaborating with prominent local corporations in China and India in the organic pigment business. With Toyocolor Co., Ltd. inaugurated on April 1 this year, as the main player in the global deployment, we aim to expand the business with a focus on the emerging nations where rapid growth is expected.
Concurrent with the recent rise in demand for published matter, packaging containers, automobiles, consumer electronics and daily necessities in China, India and the emerging nations in Southeast Asia, we also expect demand for organic pigments for inks, paints and plastic colorants to increase.

The Toyo Ink Group is currently producing organic pigment in Japan, China and France, but by establishing a close-knit partnership through the present business collaboration, the company aims to utilize mutual management resources to swiftly build a global supply chain and sales network for organic pigment, and to expand sales in growth markets. It will also establish a structure to supply organic pigment on a local production for local consumption model targeted at the products of other Group companies that are also promoting global development.
In China, Toyo Ink has set up a joint venture with Yabang Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., a top chemical company located in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, to introduce organic pigment production technologies and to develop joint sales activities aimed mainly at the domestic market in China. The Yabang Group is in possession of sales channels covering all of China, a highly cost-competitive production infrastructure, and a particular forte in blue and green phthalocyanine among organic pigments.
Through this venture company, it will join the production infrastructure and sales network of the Yabang Group with the manufacturing technology, environmental technologies and international brand strength of the Toyo Ink Group to accelerate the business expansion. The details will be announced in a joint press release at the 12th China International Dye Industry, Pigments and Textile Chemicals Exhibition (China Interdye 2012) held in Shanghai from April 10.

Meanwhile, in India, Toyo Ink is currently pursuing consultations aimed at the commercial production of ink pigments with a local manufacturer of organic pigments. By joining its technological strength and knowhow in ink pigments with the production infrastructure and business expertise of a local corporation, Toyo Ink will build a production base for ink pigments that excels in cost and quality. In addition to sales to local manufacturers and Japanese manufacturers entering the markets in India and Southeast Asia, the company plans to produce and supply high-quality pigments for use at local Toyo Ink Group production bases for printing ink.
In addition to expanding sales to domestic and overseas ink manufacturers based on our technical strengths including process management, the Toyo Ink Group organic pigment business is also developing operations in the field of color filter materials for liquid crystal displays in Japan and the East Asia region. It has also positioned organic pigments as the core material for the Group, and is carrying out production our locations in China and France in addition to the Fuji Factory of Toyocolor Co., Ltd. (Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture), for use in the products of other Group businesses.

The Toyo Ink Group aims to raise the overseas sales ratio to 50% by the period ending March 2017. As well as increasing the speed of the global development of the organic pigment business, the present business collaboration will also accelerate the expansion of printing inks, plastic colorants and other products that use organic pigments as raw material. In the past, the organic pigment business at the Toyo Ink Group focused on growing high-end products for the domestic market based on product groups built around a core of high-grade products, and there was limited expansion on the emerging markets that demanded flexibility in balancing production costs and quality.
At this time, Toyo Ink is expanding the supply chain and selling power by joining the local cost competitiveness and sales network of our partner corporations with the technical capabilities and quality strength of Toyo Ink. The company will supply pigments optimized for quality and cost as raw material for printing inks and colorants manufactured by Group businesses aiming to expand operations in China and India to improve the competitive strengths of these businesses.