OREANDA-NEWS. November 07, 2012. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui") plans to develop an electrolysis business in partnership with The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow"), a global leader in basic and specialty chemicals. A 50 : 50 joint venture established by the two companies in Texas is currently building a plant to commence operations in 2013.

The advanced membrane plant will use electrolysis of brine to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide. In value-chain of chemical industry, these are important raw materials and serve as fundamental building blocks for a large number of downstream, specialty chemical products, from pharmaceuticals, to crop protection, coatings and electronics.

Mitsui is involved on a global scale in the sale of products based on chlorine, such as ethylene dichloride (EDC), for which it has achieved the top market share. This new joint venture will allow Mitsui to supply the world stably with EDC and caustic soda. Dow places a high value on our marketing skills and market shares, especially in Asian markets. The decision to undertake a project based on 50 : 50 investment is a reflection of the strong trust that the two companies have built through a business relationship spanning many years.
Initiatives in the United States

In recent years, the United States has recovered its competitiveness in various industries, including chemicals and motor vehicles, thanks to a sustained drop in energy costs resulting from the shale gas revolution. It has started to regain its reputation as a favorable location for industrial activities and is also likely to remain a cradle of innovation. Mitsui intends to focus on the creation and realization of new business originating in the United States. The following are typical examples of our current business.


Steel Technologies Inc.

Steel Technologies ("Steel Tech") is a joint venture with the Nucor Corporation of the United States, which is one of the world's largest electric furnace steel manufacturers. With a history of over 40 years, it has 25 facilities in North America, including 13 in the United States, 2 in Canada and 8 in Mexico, as well as 2 joint ventures. It is one of the leading integrated sheet steel processing service centers in North America. In addition to conventional steel sheet processing lines such as slitters and levelers, Steel Tech also operates high-added-value processing lines, including pickling lines, press blanking lines, annealing lines and cold rolled strip lines. It has gained a strong competitive position in the industry by using these facilities to meet customer needs through the supply of a wide range of products and integrated processing services. Steel Tech will continue to respond to increasingly diverse and sophisticated customer needs by supplying products and services not only for automotive applications, but also for electrical appliances and other non-automotive applications.

Mitsui is involved in shale gas and shale oil development projects with the American company Anadarko Petroleum Corp.("Anadarko") in the Marcellus Shale area in Pennsylvania, and with Anadarko and SM Energy Company in the Eagle Ford Shale area in Texas. These projects are located close to the consumption markets and are expected to make a long-term contribution to the earnings of Mitsui because of their capacity to produce high-value-added light crude oil and competitive gas.

Mitsui has invested in the American company Tres Amigas LLC, the first commercial scale power transfer platform which connects power flow among three asynchronous power grids in the United States and creates a power trading market spanning the three power grids, using advanced power electronics and information technology. Mitsui has also invested in Viridity Energy, which has developed a next-generation demand side management platform. Through the above investments, Mitsui is promoting energy optimization business using IT by means of market mechanisms.

In addition to its core business activities, Mitsui is also supporting more than 50 initiatives a year across the United States in the four categories of education, community welfare and welfare for people with disabilities, arts and culture, and corporate matching programs based on employee participation. These activities are carried out through the Mitsui U.S.A. Foundation, which was established in 1987. The goal is to contribute to American society as a good corporate citizen.