Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) Increases HD Media Capacity to 13.75 Million Disks a Month.

Tokyo, Japan, May 8, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko  K.K. (SDK; TSE: 4004) has increased its hard disk (HD) media production capacity to 13.75 million disks per month, up 3.05 million disks per month, as a result of the construction of new lines and the debottlenecking of existing lines at the three production sites in Chiba (Japan), Singapore, and Taiwan.

Reflecting the need for notebook PCs and desktop PCs with larger storage capacity, and an increasing demand for PCs in China and India, demand for HD media has been growing steadily. Demand is also growing for use in such digital electric appliances as mobile music players, HDD recorders, and car navigation equipment. Furthermore, in February this year, the first HDD-containing mobile phones were launched on the Japanese market. Thus we have been asked by our customers to further increase our supply of HD media.

The newly constructed lines focus on the production of HD media based on the new perpendicular magnetic recording technology. SDK commercialized this world's first technology in June last year, enabling a dramatic increase in recording density.

SDK is now building a new HD media plant in Singapore to meet growing demand. After the completion of the building and the clean room, SDK will install production lines step by step. The first-phase commercial production will start by the end of this year. SDK will further increase the total capacity to 24 million disks per month by the end of 2008, as a result of the construction of the new plant in Singapore and other expansionary measures at the existing three sites.

SDK produced HD media at full capacity in the first quarter of 2006, maintaining its status as the largest independent supplier. SDK&s HD media are characterized by their large storage capacities: all 1.89-inch media have the capacity of more than 30 GB per disk; more than 70% of the 2.5-inch media, more than 60 GB per disk; and almost 50% of the 3.5-inch media, more than 100 GB per disk.

Under the ongoing medium-term consolidated business plan, the Passion Project, SDK is promoting its HD media operation as a "growth-driver" business, making active investments and developing advanced products based on world-leading technologies. SDK will continue to launch new advanced products in a timely manner for the rapidly growing market.

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko ('SDK'/TSE: 4004/OTC: SHWDF) is a major manufacturer and marketer of chemical products serving a wide range of fields ranging from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries. SDK makes petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene), aluminum products (ingots, rods) electronic equipment (hard disks for computers), and inorganic materials (ceramics, carbons). The company has overseas operations and a joint venture with Netherlands-based Montell and Nippon Petrochemicals to make and market polypropylenes. In March 2001, SDK merged with Showa Denko Aluminum Corporation to strengthen the high-value-added fabricated aluminum products operations, and is today developing next-generation optical communications-use wafers. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp.

Source: Showa Denko K.K.

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