Functional Materials Business

YoY: Increase in Sales and Decrease in Profit

● Japan: Despite a decline in sales volumes of release paper and its base paper owing
to sluggish demand for electronic devices, net sales of specialty paper increased due
to the growth in sales of strategic products, including heat-sealable paper for major
online retailers and non-fluorine oil-resistant paper, and price revisions. Net sales of
thermal paper increased due to price revisions.
● Overseas: Despite the downturn in sales volumes of thermal paper owing to efforts
to reduce inventories caused by such factors as rising interest rates and sluggish
demand, net sales increased due to price revisions.

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, 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, specialized applications such as aluminum tape for construction material and anti-tampering tape.

Film Business

The Film Business handles OPP films for film capacitors to be incorporated in the motor control PCUs of electric 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 have worked to develop high-function, high-value-added, eco-friendly products. In non-woven fabrics, we developed “kinarito LEAF,” a biomass material, and in the field of thermal paper, we developed “Alcohol-resistant Thermal Paper” and “Semi-Through” translucent thermal paper. We have also developed “O-hajiki,” a nonfluorine oil-resistant paper, in response to concerns surrounding per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances and regulations surrounding organic fluorine compounds (PFAS).
Moreover, we have promoted the development of a wide range of new products, including “CALFRESH,” an OPP fruit and vegetable packaging film that reduces industrial waste and food loss; “OJI Sustainable Mulching Sheet,” an agricultural paper mulching sheet that biodegrades in the soil after agricultural use; and “HyBioth,” a biodegradable, water soluble non-woven fabric made primarily from natural pulp.
In response to the rapid popularization of electric vehicles, new production equipment for capacitor-use OPP films used in motor drive controllers begins operation at the Oji F-Tex Shiga Mill in FY2024 to increase production capacity.

SILBIO series

The SILBIO series is a paper packaging material that we developed as an alternative to plastic packaging. The series lineup is well-suited to packaging applications across a variety of fields, and includes products with high barrier and light-shielding properties comparable to aluminum deposited film, products with both transparency and barrier properties, and products that do not require sealant processing such as PE*1. In the “SILBIO EZ SEAL” lineup, we offer four products. “SILBIO BARRIER,” which has oxygen barrier properties comparable to EVOH*2 and moisture barrier properties equivalent to LDPE*3, prevents the diffusion of moisture and odor from contents. “SILBIO ALBA” aluminum deposited paper material boasts high oxygen barrier, moisture barrier, light-shielding, and heat-sealing properties. In addition to barrier and heat-sealing properties, “SILBIO CLEAR” offers transparency. Despite the lack of barrier properties, “SILBIO EZ SEAL” specializes in heat-sealing functions and is ideal for secondary and delivery packaging for food, and industrial material packaging. The SILBIO series of products can bear a paper identification mark and is used in a variety of packaging materials for food, daily necessities, and industrial applications.

*1 Polyethylene, *2 Ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, *3 Low-density polyethylene

Overseas, in 2021, we completed construction to expand facilities in Brazil, practically doubling production capacity, to address strong demand for thermal paper in South America, and completed construction work to increase capacity at thermal paper production facilities in Europe in January 2024. In September 2022, the Adampak Group, a high-performance label printing and converting company with business bases in Southeast Asia and China, became a member of the Oji Group. This addition of the high-performance label business for electric 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. In the Asian market, which is also expected to experience growth going forward, we will propose a wide range of timely and optimal label products and increase customer value by capturing a broad range of customer needs and feeding them back to upstream businesses. In April 2024, Walki Holding Oy, a packaging materials converter with operations in Europe, joined the Oji Group. We will now initiate steps to expand business portfolios and markets.