News Release

Start of Heat Insulation Panel Operations in Southeast Asia - Notice on Building a New Plant and Establishing a Local Corporation

Start of Heat Insulation Panel Operations in Southeast Asia - Notice on Building a New Plant and Establishing a Local Corporation
 

We are pleased to announce that Nikkei Panel System Co., Ltd., (president: Yoshiro Murofushi; headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as "Nikkei Panel"), a 100% subsidiary of Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., (president and CEO: Takashi Ishiyama; headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo), has decided to start operations in Southeast Asia, where future economic growth is expected, by building a plant in Thailand and establishing a local corporation in Vietnam, as described below.

1. Purpose and Details of starting operations in Southeast Asia


With about 50 years of experience with heat insulation panels for freezers and refrigerators and interior panels for clean rooms, Nikkei Panel boasts the largest domestic share in the industry with a fully integrated design, manufacture, and installation process.


Nikkei Panel's heat insulation panels enjoy wide use as indispensable components in the cold chain transportation of foods, such as in freezers and refrigerators for agriculture and fisheries, food processing factories, low-temperature warehouses, kitchens, and general stores. Its panels for clean rooms serve as a building block of Japanese manufacturing as they provide cleaner environments to major domestic industries, including semiconductor, liquid crystal panel, and precision machinery manufacturing.


So far, Nikkei Panel has been meeting overseas needs notably in Southeast Asia by exporting products made in Japan. However, we have received requests from Japanese construction companies and equipment installers operating in Southeast Asia, as well as customers, such as those in the food processing and manufacturing industries, to provide the same high quality and ensure the same quick delivery as in Japan in terms of design, manufacture, and installation.


To meet these demands from various parties, we are going to build a new plant at a site in the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, which is owned by a local subsidiary of the Nippon Light Metal Group. The plant is scheduled to start production and sales in July 2012.


Furthermore, to strengthen sales activities in the Southeast Asian regions other than Thailand, we are going to establish Nikkei Panel System Vietnam Company Limited (provisional name), a local corporation in Vietnam. In addition to selling heat insulation panels, the new company will serve as the international procurement base for materials used in plants in Japan and the new Thai plant.


2. Overview of the new plant in Thailand

3. Overview of the local corporation in Vietnam

Providing its superior design, manufacture, and installation expertise developed in Japan, Nikkei Panel aims to satisfy every requirement of customers in the Southeast Asian regions and thereby set itself worlds apart from the local panel manufacturers. The Nippon Light Metal Group will continue to actively pursue overseas business expansion notably in Southeast Asia and further strengthen the businesses in which we are the No. 1 manufacturer.

Example installation of heat insulation panels at a food processing factory (ceiling panels, wall panels, and doors)

For inquiries regarding this news release, please contact the following:
The Public Relations and IR Office of Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd. (Tel: +81-3-5461-9333)
The Overseas Business Office of Nikkei Panel System Co., Ltd. (Tel: +81-3-5461-8530)