Message from the Head of MMA & Derivatives

It has been one year and nine months since the formulation of KAITEKI Vision 35 (KV35), the management vision outlining Mitsubishi Chemical Group's aspirations for 2035, as well as Medium-Term Management Plan 2029.
During this period, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group has clearly defined its business portfolio and implemented a reorganization of its business groups in April 2026. As the Group shifts from a defensive stance to a more offensive, growth-oriented approach, the heads of each business group discuss how they view the changing business environment and how they aim to create value going forward.

The market for methyl methacrylate (MMA), a key raw material for acrylic resins, has undergone significant transformation.
Triggered by rising energy prices due to the situation in Ukraine, Europe has seen a series of withdrawals and downsizing of production and sales activities. As a result, production has shifted to China, where competitiveness has been strengthened through high-efficiency production enabled by state-of-the-art facilities, leading to increased exports.
This has disrupted the supply–demand balance and caused a significant decline in market prices. Consequently, KV35 itself needed to be revised, as these factors have had a significant impact on the earnings of our business groups.
As a result, core operating income for fiscal 2025 turned into a loss of ¥1.5 billion, a decrease of ¥37.2 billion year-on-year.
Challenges in our business model have also become more evident.
We have maintained a global share of 30% by leveraging our technological capabilities—owning three major MMA production processes—and our global supply network. However, regional fragmentation is increasing due to tariffs, geopolitical risks, and logistics constraints, making it difficult to sustain our competitive advantage under the traditional business model.
Therefore, a fundamental restructuring of our business model is essential.

We are advancing structural reforms aimed at regional optimization.
In March 2026, we announced the dissolution of our joint venture in MMA monomer production and sales in Taiwan. As the inflow of Chinese products becomes the norm, we will reallocate management resources to regions where we can be competitive, taking into account the entire value chain, including feedstock supply and supporting infrastructure.
While the path toward earnings recovery is becoming clearer, we expect it will take one to two years before the full impact of these structural reforms materializes.
At the same time, we are exploring expansion into growth markets. In India, we currently hold a market share of approximately 50% in MMA and 30% in PMMA, and demand is expected to grow in the future, particularly in the automotive sector.
We are also moving beyond the supply of MMA to delivering value by helping customers make more effective use of MMA through application development and solution offerings.
Leveraging the technologies and expertise we have developed across a wide range of downstream areas—from MMA to PMMA and functional chemicals—we will strengthen our capability to propose applications and solutions to customers.
Furthermore, the fact that we possess three different production processes has allowed us to build a flexible production system tailored to raw material conditions and regional characteristics.
We aim to further develop this strength and explore new business models beyond in-house manufacturing, including licensing of our processes and technologies.

Acrylic resin (PMMA) is often referred to as the “Queen of Plastics” due to its excellent texture and its combination of transparency and weather resistance.
With its high biocompatibility, PMMA is widely used in various applications, including medical devices and semiconductor materials.
Moreover, PMMA has the capability to be recycled back into its monomer form through thermal decomposition, giving it strong potential from the perspective of resource circulation.
Leveraging these properties, we are working in collaboration with Honda Motor Co., Ltd. to develop applications for exterior automotive panels.
If adopted, it could contribute to weight reduction and may support improved recyclability of certain vehicle components, in addition to applications in headlamps and taillamps.
In this way, we aim to maximize the inherent potential of materials and translate that into tangible value for our customers.
In addition, we will further strengthen collaboration with our functional chemicals businesses, enhancing the added value of PMMA, accelerating expansion into new applications, and achieving further differentiation.
We aim to contribute to more circular material use through the practical application of PMMA under appropriate conditions. We will actively expand applications and evolve our business model to achieve both profitability and growth, while continuing to transform our business in ways that earn the trust of our stakeholders.