TOKYO, Apr 1, 2015 - (ACN Newswire) - Showa Denko (SDK) (Tokyo:4004) today held a ceremony for newly-hired employees. At the ceremony, Hideo Ichikawa, President and CEO, gave a message as summarized below:
Intensifying Global Competition
2015 is the final year of our five-year consolidated business plan "PEGASUS." During the period of PEGASUS, we experienced various difficulties such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, and violent fluctuations in prices of raw materials including naphtha and aluminum ingots. In addition, the world politics and economy have been experiencing powerful surges of structural changes. To cope with these circumstances, the Showa Denko Group has been converting to a new business structure.
To strengthen our hard disk media and graphite electrode businesses, which we see as two wings of PEGASUS, and "Growth" businesses we defined in the PEGASUS Phase II, we are aggressively extending our business activities in Chinese, ASEAN and other overseas markets. In addition, we are working on restructuring of our business activities, and concentrating our research and development efforts on promising themes. In the near future, we will show results of these efforts in clear form.
2015 is an important year for us because within the year we will form the next medium-term business plan in which we will aim to return to the growth track. Formation and promotion of business strategies anticipating changes in the market are indispensable for sustainable development of the Showa Denko Group.
"Shape" your ideas and dreams, without fearing changes
Chemical technology has contributed greatly to revolutionary changes in society. Chemical industry will continue changing the future, and leading society. The Group and the chemical industry can open up golden business opportunities through development and monetization of technical breakthroughs to cope with common issues such as "improvement in convenience and comfort in daily life," "further advancement in the electronics industry," "mitigation of global warming and preservation of environment toward realization of healthy and safe society," and "reduction in the degree of dependence on fossil energy and promotion of energy conservation."
Mr. Nobuteru Mori, the founder of Showa Denko, held up "dauntlessness and indomitableness" as his motto, challenged new businesses everybody thought impossible, conquered every difficulty, and left behind a great achievement in the development of Japanese chemical industry. The driving forces that open up better future are passion for realization of dreams and accumulation of steady efforts. Into the Group slogan "Shaping Ideas," we put our passion for realization of human dreams and wishes, and our desire to contribute to the creation of better society.
I sincerely hope all of you will continue having dreams about the future, attempting boldly to "shape" your dreams, and growing to be a distinguished person who is actively involved in the global market.
About Showa Denko
Showa Denko K.K. ('SDK'; TSE: 4004, US: 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/english/.
Source: Showa Denko
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