Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) to Build New Aluminum Cylinders Plant in Oita.

Tokyo, Japan, Jan 16, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko  K.K. (SDK) has decided to build, at its Oita Complex, a new plant for producing aluminum cylinders for laser printers. This replaces the earlier plan announced in August last year for expanding the capacity at the existing Nasu Plant, Tochigi Prefecture.

The new plant in Oita, with the capacity of three million tubes per month and costing approximately 2 billion, will start up in September 2006.

SDK is currently producing aluminum cylinders for laser printers at three plants in Japan (Oyama, Nasu, Hikone) and one plant each in the United States (Ohio) and China (Dalian), with a combined capacity of producing nine million tubes per month. The sixth plant to be built in Oita will serve the market in western Japan.

Demand for laser printers is increasing, especially for office use, because they provide such advantages as high printing speed, low running cost and printability on any types of paper.

In particular, demand for color laser printers started showing a steady growth in 2005. The laser printer market in 2010 is expected to be equally divided by color printers and monochrome printers. Since four aluminum cylinders are required for one color laser printer, demand for aluminum cylinders will also grow substantially.

To ensure high-quality printing, those tubes must meet stringent requirements for surface smoothness, roundness and straightness at micron-levels. SDK has developed a proprietary ED (extrusion and drawing) process that does not require the conventional machining process with a lathe, thereby ensuring high performance and cost competitiveness.

The new plant in Oita will be based on SDK's latest technology that meets much higher requirements for quality and precision in aluminum cylinders to be used in color printers.

SDK will also upgrade part of the facilities at other locations to ensure production of cylinders for color printers while expanding capacities through debottlnecking. As a result, SDK's total cylinder production capacity will increase to 15 million tubes per month by the end of 2006.

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.

Source: Showa Denko K.K.

Contact:

Showa Denko K.K.
Nobuhiro Kato
[e-mail]
[phone]

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