| January 2003 |
President and CEO Chihiro Kanagawa receives the "CEO of the Year" award from Zaikai Co., Ltd, a publisher of one of Japan's leading economic magazines.
Shin-Etsu Chemical decides to join the Cosmos Alliance, a U.S.-based venture capital joint-development organization, which promotes the commercialization of innovative breakthrough bio life sciences. |
| February |
Shin-Etsu Silicones of America, Inc. commences commercial production of functional silane at its Freeport Plant in Texas.
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| March |
Shin-Etsu Handotai announces plans to expand production capacity of its 300mm silicon wafers to 200,000 units monthly by the end of fiscal 2003, and to progressively expand production to 300,000 units monthly thereafter.
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| May |
The silicone products manufacturing plant of Zhejiang Shin-Etsu High-Tech Chemical Company, which was recently constructed in China's Zhejiang Province, began manufacturing operations in May 2003.
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| June |
Shin-Etsu PVC B.V. in the Netherlands announces plans to expand its PVC production capacity from 400,000 to about 440,000 tons annually. At the same time, the company announces plans to expand its VCM production capacity from 500,000 tons to 600,000 tons annually. |
| August |
Shin-Etsu Chemical established Shin-Etsu Silicone International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China, a new Shin-Etsu Group company, which will handle sales of silicone products.
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| October |
The semicentennial of our silicone business. |
| November |
Shin-Etsu Chemical has reached an agreement with Clariant AG (Head Office: Muttenz, Switzerland, CEO Roland Loesser) to acquire the Cellulose Ethers Business of Clariant. The closing is subject to regulatory approvals. The purchase amount is 241 million euros (about 31 billion yen). |
