Functional Materials Business

In FY2021, the Functional Materials Business had net sales of 184.7 billion yen (up 2.4 billion yen from FY2020) and operating profit of 15.3 billion yen (up 3.8 billion yen from FY2020). In the midst of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the domestic business, sales of films for capacitors for next-generation vehicles with growing social expectation from the perspective of climate change measures and energy conservation,in particular, and films for general industrial use, and packaging films for foodstuffs and sundries remained strong. In the overseas business, sales and profits increased due to a recovery trend in demand, mainly, for thermal papers. In FY2022, net sales of 216.0 billion yen (up 31.3 billion yen from FY2021) and operating profit of 10.0 billion yen (down 5.3 billion yen from FY2021) are planned.

Specialty Papers Business

The Specialty Papers Business has a lineup of products with advanced special functions such as electrical material paper including insulation materials, dry pulp non-woven fabric excellent in bulkiness and liquid retention, and glass paper excellent in size stability and heat resistance.

Imaging Media Business

The Imaging Media Business at the Oji Group develops thermal recoding media that meet customer needs for household, industrial, logistic, medical and other various uses, leveraging diverse coating technologies such as thermal and inkjet technologies, boasting a top class global market share.

Adhesive Products Business

Using proprietary adhesive force control technology, the Adhesive Products Business handles from familiar products like food/beverage labels, courier labels, adhesive tape for packaging, and wound dressings to less familiar, special applications like aluminum tape for construction material and forgery prevention tape.

Film Business

The Film Business handles films for capacitors, essential materials in the power supply units of eco-friendly vehicles, developed based on its thin film technology that produces the world’s thinnest films, and optical double- sided adhesive films and hard-coated films that are adopted for smartphones and other precision devices.

Actively Develop High-function and Eco-friendly Products

In Japan, we are strengthening the foundation of our existing business by continuously reviewing our production system in response to changes in the demand structure of the functional materials market, thereby enhancing competitiveness and profitability. We have continued to work on the rapid development of high-performance, high-value added products, and developed an automotive window film that combines high heat shielding properties and light transmittance, both of which had been difficult to achieve in the past, “MEGURISH (cotton),” a recyclable resource mixed papermaking that combines conventionally discarded fibers, scraps, and recovered clothing as paper raw materials, and “kinarito,” a biodegradable nonwoven fabric material made mainly from plant-derived cellulose and polylactic acid. In addition, in response to the global shift to a decarbonized society and the rapid spread of electric vehicles, we have decided to add two production facilities in the Shiga Mill for polypropylene film used in capacitors for motor drive controllers of electric vehicles (scheduled to start operation in 2023 and 2024, respectively). As a result, the production capacity is expected to double from the February 2022 level.

SILBIO series

In the midst of the growing needs for paper products as replacement for plastic packaging, “SILBIO series” has a lineup well-suited for light packaging applications in various fields, including a product that not only provides barrier property to paper packing materials but also has barrier and light-shielding properties as high as aluminum deposited film, a product that has transparency and barrier properties, a product that requires no sealant such as PE. The lineup consists of the following.
“SILBIO BARRIER” which has oxygen barrier property as high as EVOH, and moisture barrier property as high as LDPE, preventing contents from diffusing moisture or scent. “SILBIO ALBA,” aluminum deposited paper material which has oxygen barrier, moisture barrier, light-shielding and heat sealing properties, and is most suitable for applications requiring high barrier and concealability. “SILBIO CLEAR” which has a transparent feature in addition to barrier and heat sealing properties, and is most suitable for packaging for items whose contents you want to show such as food and daily products. “SILBIO EZ SEAL” which has no barrier property, but is specialized in its easy heat sealing feature without using sealant, and is most suitable for secondary and delivery packaging for food, and industrial material packaging. SILBIO series products can bear a paper identification mark. Currently, the SILBIO series, whose features are well accepted, is adopted as packaging materials for food and soap.

“MEGURISH (cotton)”

In the growing momentum to reduce waste from an environmentally friendly perspective, the clothing industry had an issue with disposing of fibers not used in end products and collected products. Oji F-Tex developed “MEGURISH (cotton),” a recyclable resource mixed papermaking that combines conventionally discarded fibers, scraps, and collected clothing as paper raw materials.
In collaboration with KUSUBASHI MONORI Co., Ltd., an established towel manufacturer in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, which is famous for its towel industry, we worked on processing residual towel yarn and scraps generated in its manufacturing process into raw materials for paper, and succeeded in the development of this product by leveraging the Oji Group’s paper and pulp manufacturing technology. The product is adopted for gift boxes and packaging paper for its high-end towel brand. “MEGURISH (cotton)” serves as an effort to create new value through reusing (upcycling) fibers for raw materials for paper instead of disposing of them. In addition, since different fibers are blended for each production, the color and texture vary a little, depending on production lots. We are proposing this randomness as new value.

Overseas, we have completed to enhance and expand facilities to practically double production capacity and started full operation in Brazil in order to meet strong demand for thermal paper in South America. In Europe, we have decided to expand thermal paper facilities (scheduled to start operation in January 2024). In addition, in September 2022, Adampak Group, a high performance label printing and converting company with its business bases in Southeast Asia and China, became a member of the Oji Group. This addition of the high performance label business for electric products and healthcare products to the thermal paper and adhesive paper business already operating in Thailand and the high performance label printing/converting and cutting/converting business in Malaysia has enabled the integrated production from base paper manufacturing to converting. We are continuing to respond to the demand expected to grow in the Asian area. We are working to expand our business in line with the economic development in the emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa, and aiming to strengthen competitiveness at existing locations. Based on the Group’s core technologies which are strengths we have cultivated to date in “papermaking,” “converting (functional and adhesive coatings),” and “film forming,” we are advancing our development of eco-friendly materials and products in anticipation of market needs and proactively working to expand into new business areas so as to promptly provide products and services that exceed expectations.