Showa Denko - History

History

Prior to World War II it was a part of the Mori group of companies as Showa Fertilizer (昭和肥料, Shōwa Hiryō?). It was founded by Nobuteru Mori in the early 1930s, and opened the first ammonium sulfate factory in Japan in April 1931.

Milestones:

  • Dec. 1908 Sobo Marine Products K.K. was established by Showa Denko (SDK) founder, Nobuteru Mori, to manufacture and sell iodine in Chiba Prefecture. Sobo Marine Products subsequently developed into Nihon Iodine K.K.
  • Oct. 1926 Nihon Iodine K.K. was establilshed.
  • Apr. 1928 Showa Fertilizers K.K. was established.
  • Mar. 1934 Nihon Iodine K.K. was renamed as Nihon Electrical Industries K.K.
  • Jun. 1939 Nihon Electrical Industries and Showa Fertilizers merged to form Showa Denko K.K.
  • May. 1949 SDK was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange.
  • Sept. 1951 SDK was awarded the first Deming Prize.
  • Apr. 1969 Oita Petrochemical Complex started commercial operation.
  • Mar. 1977 Second expansion project of ethylene production capacity was completed at SDK Oita Petrochemical Complex.
  • Feb. 1986 SDK withdrew from its domestic aluminum smelting business.
  • Nov. 1989 Hard Disk Plant No. 1 completed in Chiba.
  • Jan. 1995 Omachi Works obtained ISO 9001 certification.
  • May. 1997 Production Technology Center obtained ISO 14001 certification.
  • Mar. 2001 SDK merged with Showa Aluminum Corporation.
  • Sept. 2003 Japan Polyolefins Co., Ltd. and Japan Polychem Corporation integrated the polyethylene businesses and established a new joint venture company.
  • Jul. 2004 Trace Strage Technology Corp., become a consolidated subsidiary.
  • Nov. 2004 SDK announced to produce high-power blue LED chips.
  • Mar. 2005 SDK sold shares in SDS Biotech K.K. via MBO scheme.
  • Jul. 2005 SDK started production of world's first perpendicular magnetic recording technology HD media.
  • Jan. 2006 SDK opened new medium-term consolidated business plan "PASSION Project" for the 2006-2008 period.
  • Sept. 2006 SDK opened new aluminum cylinders plant in Oita.
  • Dec. 2006 SDK opened new hard disk media plant in Singapore.
  • Feb. 2007 SDK develops new crystal growth technology for GaN-based blue/white LEDs.
  • Sept. 2007 SDK opened its second neodymium-based alloys plant in China.
  • Jun. 2008 Showa Tansan Co., Ltd. become a consolidated subsidiary.

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