TOSOH NEWSFLASH

The Chemistry of Innovation

July 2019
 CONTENTS

The Tosoh Group Newsletter July 2019

3 NEWS
Tosoh Personnel and Organizational Changes 2019
Annual Report 2019 To Be Rebranded As Tosoh Report 2019
Philippines Resins Industries, Inc. (PRII) Moves to New Office

6 COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation Turns 85

8 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mark That Calendar: Holidays and Important Dates in July
Reading, Distributing, and Contributing to Tosoh Newsflash

NEWSFLASH July 2019 2

 NEWS

Tosoh Personnel and Organizational Changes 2019

On June 26, 2019, Tosoh Corporation will undergo several personnel and organizational
changes.

It’s that time of year again! Effective June 26,

2019, the following top-level changes will
take effect.

Management Changes

The following business units will be headed

by new management whose predecessor will
move on to fulfill other duties in the Tosoh
Group.

Business Unit Title Current New

Chlor-alkali Group President Shingo Tsutsumi No change

Chlor-alkali Division Senior General Manager Hideyuki Obayashi No change

Urethane Division Senior General Manager Shingo Tsutsumi Masayuki Kudo

Cement Division Senior General Manager Kenichiro Hata No change

Petrochemical Group President Etsuya Ikeda No change

Olefins Division Senior General Manager Katsumi Mineshige Hidetoshi Horiuchi

Polymers Division Senior General Manager Etsuya Ikeda Hideaki Nishioka

Specialty Group President Masayuki Yamada No change

Organic Chemicals Division Senior General Manager Masayuki Kudo Takahiko Kamezaki

Bioscience Division Senior General Manager Masayuki Yamada Masanobu Kasai

Advanced Materials Division Senior General Manager Masao Nakano Nobukatsu Ohmichi

Engineering Group President Keiichiro Nishizawa Masayuki Yamada

NEWSFLASH July 2019 3

 NEWS

Annual Report 2019 To Be Rebranded As Tosoh Report 2019

The Tosoh Report 2019 will be released in Japanese and English.

This year, Tosoh Corporation will integrate

its standalone Japanese Corporate Social
Responsibility report, also known as
the Responsible Care (RC) report, with The Evolution of
its financial report to release its first
comprehensive annual report in Japanese. Tosoh’s Annual Report
The Japanese annual report is planned for
release in September, and will be branded as
the “Tosoh Report 2019”.
1992
First annual report
To align our communications more published in English
2000
effectively and ensure consistency in both First Responsible Care (RC)
report published
versions of the report, the English version
of the report that is released every July will
also be branded as the Tosoh Report 2019,
and will be released after the publication of
2012
the Japanese version in the fall. Last printed annual report published

An announcement will be made once the

2013
publication is released. We thank all of Digital (print on demand)

our Tosoh colleagues for your continued

2014 2014
support and cooperation. Shifted from print to web only Digital only
(www.tosoh.com) (downloadable on Tosoh.com)

2017
Shifted from print to web only

2018 2018
Annual report combined with RC report

2019
Rebranded as ‘Tosoh Report’ to be published on
the web, made available in Japanese and English

NEWSFLASH July 2019 4

 NEWS

Philippines Resins Industries, Inc. (PRII) Moves to New Office

The company moved from the Pacific Star Building along Senator Gil Puyat Avenue to the
Citibank Center Building along Paseo de Roxas Avenue.

PRII’s Head Office has relocated to a new

home at Citibank Center Building as of May
2, 2019. PRII has moved to a new working
environment in line with its growing
polyvinyl chloride resins business. The
company is still located in the heart of the
Makati Business District. Its new office now
sports a modern industrial-type look and
have a more conducive work space for the
employees and its visitors.

With this new home, PRII looks forward

to achieving more milestones and business
opportunities that will be created and
sealed -- this, as the whole PRII family
– its employees, business partners and
The office area in PRII’s new head office
stakeholders – also continues to grow over
the years.

Old New

Unit 407, Pacific Star Building, Mezzanine Floor, Citibank Center Building

Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, 8741 Paseo De Roxas Avenue’

Corner Makati Avenue, Makati City 1209

Makati City 1200, The Philippines Philippines

Meeting rooms

NEWSFLASH July 2019 5


Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation Turns 85
Today, Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation (MVC) operates a modern, highly-efficient, and environment-
friendly manufacturing plant complex in Iligan City, Philippines.
Ryo Kobayashi, a Tosoh employee who
is currently working in MVC since 2015,
introduced the company in the following:
Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation was
established in July 1934. It started out as
Mabuhay Rubber Corporation, a rubber
shoe manufacturer, and was founded by
the late Judge Guillermo B. Guevara in the
Philippines. It ceased operations during
World War II, but was revived in 1960 when
Judge Guevara and his son saw the need to
support the country’s manufacturing base.
The Guevara family entered the electrolysis
business then. Later in 1965, they set up
plants for the production of caustic soda
and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, which
are chemical products used in making a wide
range of consumer goods.
In 1966, the company changed its name to
Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation to identify
itself closer to its main products: PVC
resin. The company went through a period
of expansive growth in the 1970s, and
later in 1979, a new chlor-alkali plant using
diaphragm cells was built, which increased
the company’s production capacity four-
fold. A liquid chlorine plant, and tank depot
facilities in Manila, Cebu, Batangas and
Negros Oriental were set up to expand into
new markets.
With Tosoh’s support, MVC
aims to be the leading
producer and supplier of
chlor-alkali products and
related chemicals and
services in the Philippines.
In 1980, MVC acquired its first chemical
marine tanker—M/T Snoopy I—to transport
its new product, hydrochloric acid. At the
time, Tosoh decided to work together with
MVC and gave technical support to the
company.
In 1993, the company completed the
construction of the Mabuhay Premium
Bleach Plant (MPBP) at the Laguna
Technopark, and also put up a tank for
sodium hydroxide in Sasa, Davao City.
It was in December 1996 that MVC,
together with Tosoh Corporation,
Mitsubishi Corporation and BPI, signed a
joint-venture agreement to establish a PVC
resin plant in Bataan under the name of
Philippine Resins Industries, Inc. (PRII).
Shortly thereafter, in February 1997, MVC
had a successful initial public offering on
the Philippine Stock Exchange. The capital
raised was used to fund MVC’s equity in
PRII.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
MVC decided to completely move out of the
PVC business after the 1997 Asian economic
crisis to focus on its core competence: the
chlor-alkali business. The company divested
its shares in PRII and started construction
of its first ion exchange membrane (IEM)
caustic soda plant.
In 2003, MVC completed its first IEM
plant in Iligan; launched M/T Snoopy II,
its second marine tanker for hydrochloric
acid; and consolidated its Luzon logistics
operation in the Bauan, Batangas depot.
In 2008, the company inaugurated its second
IEM plant, which was built using state-of-
the-art chlor-alkali production technologies
utilizing the n-BiTAC® electrolyzers
supplied by Chlorine Engineers Corp.
Ltd. of Japan, in partnership with Tosoh
Corporation.
To better serve the logistics requirements
and rising market demand, MVC
commissioned its first caustic soda tanker,
M/T Snoopy III in 2011.
Tosoh Corporation acquired a total of
87.97% of the total outstanding shares of
MVC between 2000 and 2015 to become
the majority shareholder of the company.
Today, MVC operates a modern, highly-
efficient, and environment-friendly
NEWSFLASH July 2019 6

Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation Turns 85
manufacturing plant complex in Iligan
City, and the Mabuhay Premium Bleach
Plant at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan,
Laguna. It has its own port facilities where
salt is unloaded from foreign vessels and
liquid products are loaded through a
network of pipelines. It continues to have
a longstanding and deep relationship with
Tosoh Corporation.
The company has retained the name
Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation to this day,
and is renowned and respected in the
industry as the sole domestic producer in
the Philippines and a major importer of
caustic soda. It enjoys a leading position in
the hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite
and chlorine markets. With Tosoh’s support,
MVC aims to be the leading producer and
supplier of chlor-alkali products and related
chemicals and services in the Philippines.
MVC is certified to ISO 9001:2015 quality
standards–the internationally recognized
standard of world-class quality. Its Mabuhay
Premium Bleach Plant (MBPB) in Santa
Rosa, Laguna is also ISO 14001:2015 certified
for Environmental Management System
while its Iligan Plant is certified for its
Integrated Management System consisting
NEWS
of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and BS
OHSAS 18001:2007.
MVC is also an active contributor to the
local community. It regularly participates
in coastal cleanup activities, holds blood
donation drives, and collaborates with
schools to carry out educational activities.
In August 2018, MVC contributed in
the construction of a new health center
together with the local authorities and other
companies. The new health center enabled
the local community to have faster access to MVC’s chlor-alkali electrolysis plant
medical services.
In January 2018, the company was named
2017 PhilHealth Champion, an initiative
held by PhilHealth Iligan City’s Local
Health Insurance Office (LHIO) to
recognize partners who have extended
exemplary contribution in support to local
operations for the economy.
For more information, visit:
www.mvc.com.ph
The entrance to MVC’s plant in Iligan City, Philippines
NEWSFLASH July 2019 7

Announcements
Important Dates in July
Monday July 15 Marine Day (Umi no Hi)
Editor’s Diary: Camping in the Summer
What’s your favorite summer activity? In
recent years, camping has been regaining
popularity in Japan, thanks to increased
options such as car-camping and “glamping”.
In fact, the country has about 3,000
campsites, including some just outside
Tokyo! One of the more popular campsites
is the Fumotoppara Camping Ground
(pictured above) in Shizuoka prefecture.
Campers can enjoy barbequing and grilling
meat while enjoying the glorious view of
Mount Fuji. Be sure to protect yourselves
against the strong ultraviolet rays by
bringing a tarpulin to provide extra shade
and applying sunscreen regularly, or you
might end up with some serious sunburns!
Marine Day (Umi no Hi)
Marine Day, Umi no Hi, also known as
“Ocean Day” or “Sea Day”, is a Japanese
national holiday celebrated for the purpose
of giving thanks to the ocean’s bounty and
to consider the importance of the ocean
to Japan as an island nation. Many people
take advantage of the holiday and summer
weather to take a beach trip, or engage
in other ocean-related activities, such as
scuba diving. If you’re into scuba diving and
happen to be in Japan, try out diving spots
around Ishigaki Island near Okiniwa. The
island is also known as the “Manta Point”
because manta rays are commonly seen
there between July through September.
Upcoming Publications
• Medium-term Business Plan 2019
• Organizational Chart
• Tosoh General Presentation 2019
• Official Abbreviation List
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Tosoh Newsflash
Our electronic newsletter is produced to
provide everyone at Tosoh with a snapshot
of what is happening throughout our great
group. It also strives to educate employees
about the role Tosoh plays in supplying the
essentials for daily life.
To make our e-newsletter a more effective
medium for communication, it is vital
that PR contacts read it, disseminate it,
and act on and otherwise contribute to its
announcements when they directly affect
employees.
We are eager to feature Tosoh companies
and employees in Newsflash and to share
your stories and activities with the entire
Tosoh Group. If you have something you’d
like to share, please contact us.
The Newsflash Team
NEWSFLASH July 2019 8