Tokyo — Mitsui, which has a specialist diisocyanates business, had total sales of JPY 1482.9bn in 2018 financial year. This is up 11.6% on the 2017 numbers.
Operating income across the business fell 9.8% and reached JPY 93.4bn in the 2018 financial year.
The company's Basic Materials division, which is where diisocyanates sit, sales rose 12.4% between 2017 and 2018. They reached JPY 716.5bn in 2018. This compares with JPY 637.7bn in the 2017 financial year.
At the same time, operating income in the division fell 28.5%. It reached JPY 27.8bn in 2018. This compares with JPY 38.9m in 2017.
There was healthy domestic demand in the Basic Materials segment continued throughout 2018, the company said.
However, naphtha production was hit in the year as a fire caused a small amount of production disruption in Osaka. The increase in net sales was due to higher volumes.
Operating income in the division fell because of weaker trade terms and the effect of the fire. Lower prices for naphtha meant that the company revalued its stock.
