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Company History

Company History

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. began with the coming together of Nagano Prefecture’s (Shinano-area) water and Niigata Prefecture’s (Echigo-area) limestone.

Nagano Prefecture’s plentiful water give birth to electric power and the limestone that came from Niigata Prefecture was a key raw material, which was called, “Oyashirazu’s great earth.”
Because of the presence of these two gifts of nature, Shin-Etsu Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., Ltd. was founded on September, 1926 to manufacture chemical fertilizer and limestone nitrogen. The history of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. began from this point.The company’s “Shin” comes from Shinano and “Etsu” is taken from Echigo.

This is a new corporate symbol that visually represents the future image of the Shin-Etsu Group which are pursuing.

The corporate symbol is an integration of images representing “high technology”,”high quality”,”dynamism”,”challenging spirit”, and “flexibility”.

The “light” in the center represents the “activating source” that links the “potential of the earth” with “people’s ambitions”. It also represents the advanced technology that will lead to future expansion and new values. The Shin-Etsu Group, whose aim is to become a world leader, has named this symbol the “Memorable Glow”, in the hope of shining eternally.

Organization History

  • Chronology of operations in Japan
  • Chronology of global network
  • Milestones of products and research and development

  • 1926

    • Shin-Etsu Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (Founding company)

  • 1927

    • Naoetsu Plant Constructed
    • Naoetsu Plant Begins Production of Carbide and Lime Nitrogen Fertilizer

  • 1938

  • 1940

    • Name Changed to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

  • 1945

  • 1949

    • Shares Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange

  • 1953

    • Silicone Production Facilities Established
    • Receipt of the Deming Application Prize for Quality Control

  • 1955

    • Nissin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1956

    • PVC Production Begins

  • 1957

    • Caustic Soda and Chlorine Production Begins

  • 1959

    • Chloromethane Production Begins

  • 1960

    • Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. Established
    • C.I.R.E.S. (Portugal) Established
    • High-Purity Silicon Production Begins
    • Silicone RTV Rubbers Developed

  • 1962

    • Shin-Etsu Astech Co., Ltd. Established
    • Manufacture of Cellulose Derivatives Begins

  • 1963

    • Plaster-Use Hi-Metolose Developed

  • 1964

    • Nagano Electronics Industrial Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1965

    • Gastrosoluable Coating Agent Pharmacoat Developed

  • 1966

    • Silane Coupling Agents Developed

  • 1967

    • Shin-Etsu Metallurgical Co., Ltd., Established
    • High-Purity Yttrium and Other Rare Earth Production Begins

  • 1968

    • Kashima Vinyl Chloride Monomer Co., Ltd. and Kashima Chlorine & Alkali Co., Ltd. Established
    • Shin-Etsu Vinyl Acetate Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1969

    • Naoetsu Electronics Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1970

  • 1971

    • Relocated the Headquarters to Asahi Seimei Otemachi Building (Formerly Asahi-Tokai Building), Ohtemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

  • 1972

    • Shin-Etsu Quartz Products Co., Ltd. Established
    • Rare-earth Magnets Developed
    • HPMCP Production Begins

  • 1973

    • Shintech, Inc. (U.S.A.) Established
    • S.E.H. Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Established
    • Epoxy Molding Compounds Developed

  • 1974

    • Shintech’s Freeport Plant Starts Operations

  • 1976

  • 1977

  • 1979

    • Shin-Etsu Handotai America, Inc. (S.E.H. America) Established
    • Synthetic Quartz Glass for IC Photomask Production Begins

  • 1980

    • Synthetic Pheromones Developed

  • 1981

    • Silicon Nitride Powder Developed
    • Cast Iron Wire Inoculation Agent Developed

  • 1982

    • Dichlorosilane Production Begins

  • 1984

    • Shin-Etsu Handotai Shirakawa Plant Constructed
    • Shin-Etsu Handotai Europe, Ltd. (S.E.H. Europe) Established
    • Lithium Tantalate (LT) Developed

  • 1985

    • K-Bin, Inc. (U.S.A.) Established
    • Shin-Etsu Silicones of America, Inc. Established
    • Ultra-High-Purity PBN Developed

  • 1986

    • Shin-Etsu Silicone Korea Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1987

    • Shin-Etsu Silicone Taiwan Co., Ltd Established

  • 1988

  • 1989

    • MicroSi, Inc. (U.S.A.) Established
    • Shin-Etsu Silicones Europe B.V. (The Netherlands) Established

  • 1990

    • Shin-Etsu International Europe B.V. (The Netherlands) Established
    • Shin-Etsu Singapore Pte. Ltd. Established

  • 1991

    • Ultra Compact Optical Isolator Developed

  • 1992

  • 1993

    • Shin-Etsu Magnetics, Inc. (U.S.A.) Established
    • S.E.H. (Shah Alam) Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) Established
    • Full-Scale Production of Preform for Optical Fiber Begins

  • 1994

    • Pelicles for Photomasks Developed

  • 1995

    • Shin-Etsu Opto Electronic Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) Established
    • Shin-Etsu Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. Established
    • Shin-Etsu Singapore Pte. Ltd. Established
    • Shin-Etsu Handotai Taiwan Co., Ltd. Established

  • 1996

    • Acquisition of Simcoa Operations Pty. Ltd. (Australia)

  • 1998

    • Commercialization of Photoresists

  • 1999

    • A Dutch PVC Business Purchased and Shin-Etsu PVC B.V. Established
    • Liquid Fluoroelastomer Developed

  • 2000

    • Phase 1 Construction Work on Shintech Addis Plant Completed
    • Optical Communication Component Business Launched

  • 2001

    • New Functional Materials Research Center Established
    • Preform for Optical Fiber Plant Constructed in Kashima Plant
    • Phase 2 Construction Work on Shintech Addis Plant Completed
    • Asia Silicones Monomer Ltd. Established (Thailand)
    • Shin-Etsu Silicones (Thailand) Ltd. Established
    • 300mm Silicon Wafer Production Initiated

  • 2002

  • 2003

    • Shin-Etsu Silicone International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Established
    • A Switzerland Cellulose Buisiness Purchased and SE Tylose GmbH & Co.,KG Established

  • 2005

    • JAPAN VAM & POVAL Co. Ltd. Became a Wholly Owned Shin-Etsu Group Company
    • New High-Performance Technology for Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets Developed

  • 2006

    • TOB (Take-Over Bid) of Mimasu Semiconductor Industry Co.,Ltd Completed

  • 2007

    • Optical Isolators Complying with the RoHS Directive Developed
    • Leading-Edge Photomask Blanks Developed with Toppan Printing

  • 2008

    • Phase 1 Construction work on Shintech Plaquemine Plant No.1Completed
    • The World’s Largest Class Permanent Magnet-Type Magnetic Circuit Developed

  • 2009

    • Silicone Reflector Material for High Brightness LEDs and Wavelength Conversion Silicone Film Developed

  • 2010

    • Phase 2 Construction work on Shintech Plaquemine Plant No.1Completed

  • 2011

    • Shintech Plaquemine Plant No.2 Completed
    • Shin-Etsu Magnetic Materials Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Shin-Etsu Electronics Materials Vietnam Co., Ltd. Established.

  • 2012

    • Shin-Etsu (Changting) Technology Co., Ltd. Established.

  • 2013

    • Asia Silicones Monomer Ltd. to Become a Wholly Owned Shin-Etsu Group Company
    • “RADIBARRIER” Series of Liquid Silicone Rubber with Radiation-Shielding Properties Developed

  • 2015

    • Shin-Etsu YOFC(Hubei) Optical Preform Co.,Ltd. Established

  • 2016

    • Newly Completed Lab Facilities at the Silicone-Electronics Materials Research Center

  • 2018

    • New Integrated Production Plant in Plaquemine at Shintech Announced
    • Increasing Production Capacity of Silicone from Monomer to End Products Announced

  • 2020

    • Shintech’s Ethylene Plant Starts Operations

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