Mitsui Chemicals Completes Production Increase for TEKNOROTE™ Shape-Holding Plastic Wire

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) today announced that wholly owned subsidiary Sunrex Industry Co. Ltd. (President: KAWAHITO Koichiro) has completed construction on expanded production facilities for TEKNOROTE™, a shape-holding plastic wire mainly used for mask nose clamps. Work on the expanded facilities got under way this June in response to surging mask demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Completed on October 15, the expanded facilities began commercial operations earlier this month.

The expanded facilities allow the Mitsui Chemicals Group to now produce enough nose clamps to cover 3 billion masks per year. In view of dealing with continued rising mask demand while also pursuing other applications for the material, however, consideration will be given to further expansion of TEKNOROTE™ production facilities in due course.

Characteristics of TEKNOROTE™ compared to those of metal wire

Easy to bend or twist with bare hands, TEKNOROTE™ excels at retaining its shape after deformation. Unlike metal wire used for the same applications, TEKNOROTE™ is lightweight, minimizes the risk of being scratched or stabbed when working with the material and is easy to dispose of via incineration. Further, due to being nonmetallic, it does not hinder the use of metal detectors used for contamination testing in the food and medical sectors.

【Overview of Sunrex Industry and facility expansion】

Reference

Original July 6 press release regarding production increase:
https://jp.mitsuichemicals.com/en/release/2020/2020_0706.htm