SDK Starts Building High-Purity Aluminum Foils Plant in China

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has started building a new plant in China for producing high-purity aluminum foils for electrolytic capacitors. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on March 2 at a site in Nantong Economic & Technology Development Area, Jiangsu Province.

This project is part of the business expansion plan decided in August last year. At the new plant in China, the subsidiary Showa Denko Aluminum (Nantong) Co. Ltd will finish rolled foils supplied from the company's Sakai Plant (Sakai City, Osaka, Japan). Final products will be provided to customers in China. The plant will start up in the second half of 2013.

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are used widely in electric appliances and transport machinery. Demand for aluminum electrolytic capacitors in China is expected to grow, reflecting continued economic growth in that country. With the establishment of the new plant in China, SDK aims to meet the growing demand for capacitor-grade high-purity aluminum foils in a timely manner.

About Showa Denko

Showa Denko K.K. ('SDK'; TSE: 4004, US: SHWDF) is a major manufacturer and marketer of chemical products serving a wide range of fields ranging from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries. SDK makes petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene), aluminum products (ingots, rods), electronic equipment (hard disks for computers) and inorganic materials (ceramics, carbons). The company has overseas operations and a joint venture with Netherlands-based Montell and Nippon Petrochemicals to make and market polypropylenes. In March 2001, SDK merged with Showa Denko Aluminum Corporation to strengthen the high-value-added fabricated aluminum products operations, and is today developing next-generation optical communications-use wafers. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp .