DIC Corporation established the Pigments Technical Center Asia Pacific.
 
The facility is located on the site of wholly owned Indonesian subsidiary PT. DIC Graphics’ Karawang Plant, which is engaged primarily in the production of phthalocyanine blue pigments.
 
Phthalocyanine pigments are general-purpose pigments used extensively in printing inks and plastics. Against a backdrop of improved living standards in emerging economies, growing environmental awareness worldwide, and increasingly sophisticated design needs in areas such as product differentiation and brand image consistency, demand for phthalocyanine pigments continues to rise for automotive and infrastructure-related applications, as well as for use in packaging inks.

The Karawang Plant’s key advantage is its integrated production capabilities, which encompass everything from phthalocyanine crude (pigment intermediates) for its own use to pigments for sale to customers. Since fiscal year 2013, the DIC Group has worked as one to advance a project aimed at optimizing the production configuration of its phthalocyanine pigments business to expand production capacity while at the same time strengthening competitiveness and realizing a robust operating foundation. The Pigments Technical Center Asia Pacific, which is the first such facility in Southeast Asia, joining similar pigments research centers in Japan and the U.S., is expected to boost cooperation between production and technical departments, thereby helping drive the development of high-value-added products for markets worldwide, including Asia.