About DAICELHistory

1908-1960

Mar. 1908
Japan Celluloid Artificial Co., Ltd.(currently Aboshi Plant) is established.
Jul. 1908
Sakai Celluloid Co., Ltd.(later Sakai Plant) is established.
1916
Osaka Sen'i Kogyo Co.,LTD.(currently Kanzaki Plant) is established.
Sep. 1919

The merger of eight celluloid companies leads to the establishment of Dainippon Celluloid Co., Ltd.

Jul. 1927
Mikuni Celluloid Co., Ltd. (in 1973, renamed into Mikuni Plastics Co., Ltd.) is established and begins celluloid processing operations.
Sep. 1929

Acetate plastic called "Acetyloid" is developed.

Jan. 1934

The Company's photographic film operations are spun off to form Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. (currently FUJIFILM Corporation)

Sep. 1935

The Arai Plant is established in Niigata Prefecture to begin production of acetylene-base organic chemicals.

Jun. 1938
The Sakai Plant begins manufacturing acetate filament.
Jul. 1953
The Aboshi Plant begins to manufacture tri-acetyl cellulose (TAC) for photographic film and begins supplying Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
Jun. 1954

The Kawachi Sub-Plant in the Aboshi Kako Plant (currently the Harima Plant) opens and begins production of smokeless gunpowder.

Sep. 1956
Dainippon Plastics Co.,Ltd. is established and begins plastics processing operations.
Aug. 1958

The Sakai Plant begins production of acetate tow for cigarette filters.

Mar. 1959
Nagoya Office (presently Nagoya Sales Office) is established.

1961-1999

Jan. 1961

Dainippon Kasei Co., Ltd. (currently the Ohtake Plant) is established.

Feb. 1961

The Sakai Plant is established as a SAN resin manufacturing facility and begins production.

Jun. 1961

The Research Center is established in Iruma-gun, Saitama Prefecture.

May 1964

Polyplastics Corporation is established as a joint venture with Celanese Corporation and production of DURACON® polyacetal resin begins.

Feb. 1966
The Company is renamed Daicel Co., Ltd.
Mar. 1968
The Arai Plant halts production of carbide, acetylene, and aldehyde, switching to petrochemical materials from the raw materials for organic chemicals.
Jun. 1968
Dainippon Kasei Co., Ltd. is acquired, and its Ohtake Plant becomes Daicel's Ohtake Plant.
Aug. 1968
The Sakai Plant begins manufacturing ABS resin.
Aug. 1968

The Ohtake Plant begins commercialization of peracetic acid synthetic glycerin.

Mar. 1969
The Tokyo Plant is closed.
Jul. 1970
Daicel-Hüls Ltd. (currently Polyplastics-Evonik Corporation) is established as a joint venture and begins marketing Polyamide-12 resin.
Jul. 1977
Kyodo Sakusan Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture.
Oct. 1979
The Company is renamed Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd.
Apr. 1980

Production of acetic acid with the methanol carbonylation process begins.

Nov. 1980
The Central Research Center is established in Hyogo Prefecture.
Apr. 1982

Optical isomer resolution business is launched.

Aug. 1982
An explosion occurs at the Sakai Plant.
Apr. 1984
Daicel (U.S.A.), Inc. is established in the USA.
Nov. 1984
Daicel (Europa) GmbH is established in Germany.
May. 1988
Daicel-UCB Company, Ltd. (currently Daicel-Allnex Ltd.) is established as a joint venture for the production and sales of ultraviolet and electron-beam curable resins.
Oct. 1988

Daicel Safety Systems Inc. is established as a manufacturing subsidiary for automobile airbag inflators.

In 1967, Eaton, Yale, and Towne, Inc. (U.S.A.) introduced the airbag system as a lifesaving device in motor vehicle collisions. In 1969, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the U.S. Department of Transportation introduced a law mandating that all passenger vehicles be equipped with airbags. This sparked a full-scale research and development effort to achieve practical use of airbags. Our Company undertook the research and development of airbag systems beginning in the mid-1970s, and in 1988, we began supplying mass production equipment for inflators. From 2000 onwards, we began establishing production and sales bases in the U.S.A., Thailand, Poland, China and South Korea, thus realizing our global supply system.

May. 1989
Daicel Chemical (Asia) Pte.Ltd. is established in Singapore.
Nov. 1990
A facility for manufacturing acetate tow for cigarette filters is established in the Aboshi Plant, thus creating the twin hub system at Sakai and Aboshi.
The Aboshi Plant begins manufacturing Tri-Acetyl Cellulose (TAC) for LCD optical films.
Chiral Technologies, Inc. is established in the U.S.A. as a hub of optical resolution operations.
Oct. 1991
Dainichi Chemical Corp. is established for the production and sales of oligomers and other products.
Jul. 1992
Xi'an Huida Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture in China to manufacture and sell acetate tow for cigarette filters.
Nov. 1992
Daicel (Hong Kong) Ltd. is established in Hong Kong.
Jun. 1993
The Hirohata Plant is established in the Himeji Production Sector in Hyogo prefecture.
Dec. 1993

A joint venture is established with Shanghai Da-shen Cellulose Plastics Co., Ltd., a manufacturing and sales company of celluloid and acetate plastics.

May. 1994
Daicen Membrane-Systems Ltd. is established as a joint venture to manufacture and sell membrane modules for water treatment.
Oct. 1994
Chiral Technologies-Europe SARL (currently Chiral Technologies Europe S.A.S.) is established in France as a European hub for the optical resolution business.
Nov. 1994
Shanghai Daicel Polymers, Ltd. a resin compound manufacturing company, is established in Shanghai, China.
Apr. 1998
The H.R. Training Center is established in Ako-gun, Hyogo prefecture.
Apr. 1999
Toyo Styrene Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture.

2000-

Mar. 2000
The Integrated Production Center (IPC) is established in the Aboshi Plant of the Himeji Production Sector and begins integrated operation.
Dec. 2000
Daicel Safety Systems America, LLC, a joint venture, is established as the U.S. hub for automobile airbag inflators.
Jan. 2001
Resin compound operations are spun off and Daicel Polymer Ltd. (currently Daicel Miraizu Ltd.) is established and begins operations.
The plastic sheet forming business is spun off and Daicel Pack Systems, Ltd. is established and begins operations.
Oct. 2001
Daicel Kaseihin Co., Ltd. and Daicel Craft Ltd. are merged to establish Daicel FineChem Ltd.
Nagano Novafoam Ltd. and West Japan Novafoam Ltd. merge to form Daicel Novafoam Ltd. a subsidiary involved in plastic foaming products.
Sep. 2002
Daicel acquires a company involved in the manufacture and sales of sorbic acid and other products to establish and begin operations at Daicel Nanning Food Ingredients Co., Ltd. in China.
Daicel Safety Systems (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is established in Thailand as a production and sales hub for automobile airbag inflators.
Mar. 2004
Daicel Safety Systems Europe Sp.z o.o. is established in Poland as the European hub of automobile airbag inflator production.
Apr. 2004
The package filming business is spun off and Daicel Value Coating Ltd. is established and begins operations.
Jul. 2004
Daicel Chemical (China) Investment Co.,Ltd. is established in Shanghai, China.
Dec. 2004
Daicel Safety Systems (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. is established in China as a production and sales hub for automobile airbag inflators.
Mar. 2005
Ningbo Da-An Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture in China to manufacture and sell cellulose acetate and acetic anhydrate.
Aug. 2007
Daicel Chiral Technologies (China) Co., Ltd. is established in Shanghai, China.
Oct. 2007
The Ohtake Plant is established as an acetate tow manufacturing facility.
Dec. 2007
Daicel(Hong Kong)Ltd. is closed and its business is transferred to Daicel Chemical (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Mar. 2008
In Japan, part of the premises of the Sakai Plant was expropriated for construction of the Yamatogawa Line of the Hanshin Expressway. The Sakai Plant is closed.
Dainippon Plastics Co., Ltd. is transferred to Takiron Co., Ltd.(currently C.I. TAKIRON Corporation).
Apr. 2008
Daicel Chiral Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd. is established in Hyderabad, India.
May. 2008
The Ohtake Plant is established as a tri-acetyl cellulose (TAC) manufacturing facility.
Oct. 2008
Mikuni Plastics Co., Ltd. transfers its entire business to Aron Kasei Co., Ltd.
Mar. 2009
Construction of the ethyl acetate manufacturing facility using esterification process is completed.
Oct. 2011

The Company is renamed Daicel Corporation.

Our Company went through several name changes - from Dainippon Celluloid Company Limited at the time of its founding to Daicel Co., Ltd. in 1966 and Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd. in 1979. We have since expanded the scope of our business by building on our core technologies of cellulosic chemicals, organic chemicals, polymer chemistry, and pyrotechnics. In recent years, the assembly segment as represented by automobile airbag inflators has grown into another core business. To demonstrate our goal of developing beyond the chemical industry with original technologies and expertise built on chemistry, both inside and outside the company, we decided to rename the Company with its current name, Daicel Corporation.

Dec. 2011
Daicel Safety Systems Korea, Inc. is established in Korea.
Apr. 2012
Daicel Novafoam, Ltd., and Tohoku Polymer Ltd. as a Mitsui Chemical's subsidiary are merged to establish DM Novafoam, Ltd..
Daicel Polymer (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is established in Thailand.
Special Devices Inc. as a manufacturer of initiators is purchased and transformed into our subsidiaries.
May. 2013
Daicel establish a joint venture by acquiring 35% of the outstanding shares of Toyama Filter Tow Co., Ltd., an acetate tow manufacturing subsidiary of Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.
Mar. 2015
Acquires "Health & Amenity" business from UNITIKA LTD.
Apr. 2015
Daicel Safety Systems America Arizona, Inc. is established as the 2nd Manufacturing Plant of the inflator in the Americas.
May. 2016
Daicel (U.S.A.), Inc. is renamed Daicel America Holdings, Inc. to expand its functions.
Daicel Safety Systems America Holdings, Inc. established in Arizona, U.S.A., as a controlling company for inflator business in North America.
Daicel ChemTech, Inc. is established in New Jersey, U.S. as a marketing company for organic chemicals in Americas.
Apr. 2017

Our Central Research Center and Himeji Technology Head Office are consolidated at a new site, Innovation Park.

In the past, the "Central Research Center" consisted of the Corporate Research Center, which was responsible for creating new businesses and research on elemental technologies, and the R&D departments of each business company, which were responsible for developing new products and reducing costs in existing business areas. Both had independent offices. Likewise, in the Himeji Technology Head Office, independent offices were provided for the Production Engineering Head Office responsible for production innovation the Daicel Way and process innovation; the Responsible Care Office charged with promoting environmental protection and safety assurance of our Group; and the Engineering Center responsible for plant construction and maintenance. By consolidating and integrating the R&D, production technology, engineering, environmental and safety, and other technical departments into a single location, we are accelerating new business development, speeding up research on new products and innovative process technologies, and focusing on development of high-efficiency mass production facilities.

Aug. 2018
Lomapharm group companies (LOMA Holding GmbH, Lomapharm Rudolf Lohmann GmbH KG, Lomapharm Verwaltungs GmbH), a German pharma contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is purchased and transformed into our subsidiaries.
Sept. 2018
Daicel Micro Optics Co. Ltd. is established in Taiwan as a design/development and sales base for optical parts utilizing own developed wafer level lenses.
Oct. 2018
Daicel Safety Systems India Pvt. Ltd. is established in India as a sales hub for automobile airbag inflators.
Jan. 2019
Chiral Technologies, a subsidiary of the Company, acquired Arbor Biosciences, a genomics company in U.S.A.
Apr. 2019
Six North American companies of the pyrotechnic device businesses are consolidated, and established Daicel Safety Systems Americas, Inc.
Jan. 2020
PI-CRYSTAL INC., which develops, manufactures and sells organic semiconductor devices, is purchased and transformed into one of our subsidiaries.
Jul. 2020
Daicel FineChem Ltd., Daicel Polymers, Ltd. and Daicel Value Coating Ltd. (sales department) are consolidated, establishing Daicel Miraizu Ltd.
Oct. 2020

Made Polyplastics Co., Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of Daicel Corporation

Since its founding in 1964 as a joint venture with Celanese, Polyplastics has continued to grow through mutual cooperation between Daicel and Celanese. For further growth of Polyplastics amid the rapidly changing business environment, we have sought faster and more flexible decision making, through the top-management talks based on the trust and respect, and reached the agreement of Daicel’s acquire all shares of Polyplastics held by Celanese’s subsidiary. In October 2020, Daicel made Polyplastics a wholly owned subsidiary by fully accomplishment of acquisition of shares of Polyplastics.

Apr. 2022
The Company transfers shares of Daicel-Evonik Ltd. to Polyplastics Co., Ltd. Along with this transfer, Daicel-Evonik changes its name to Polyplastics-Evonik Corporation.
Jun. 2022
The Company acquires the Film Segment of Gunze's Electronic Components Division and establishes Daicel Beyond Ltd.
Oct. 2023
Daicel Medical Ltd. is established.
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