Teijin Limited (Japan) is going to use technology developed by DSM for the production of Solufill®, a high-porosity PE film filled with a special ceramic powder. This advanced and extremely thin film is used as ceramic green sheet for the manufacture of multilayer ceramic capacitors. Teijin will build a plant in Japan that will come on stream in 2004. Besides granting a license to Teijin, DSM will transfer the global sales rights for Solufill® to Teijin. Within the framework of the licensing project, DSM will provide Teijin with technical know-how and will make its technology development resources and production capacity available to Teijin.

All agreements between DSM and Teijin have been laid down in a contract that has been signed by Mr A. Ohkata, senior executive officer of New Business Development Group Teijin Limited, and Mr Paul Hamm, president of DSM Venturing & New Business Development. DSM Solutech will concentrate on the further development of a sustainable business in its other products, primarily Solupor®. Solupor® is a specialty film made of porous ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) which is used in for example batteries, supercapacitors, membranes for microfiltration and transdermal drug patches.

DSM Solutech

DSM Solutech BV, based in Heerlen, the Netherlands and part of DSM Venturing & New Business Development, manufactures UHMWPE micro-porous films - trade names Solupor® and Solufill® - using DSM's proprietary gel technology. In 1997 DSM Solutech teamed up with Teijin Limited to set up a joint venture - DSM Teijin Solutech Ltd, Tokyo - in Japan to develop business in the (large) Japanese market for electronic components.

Teijin Limited

Teijin Limited (Tokyo, Japan) is a diversified chemicals group with a strong base in films and fibres. The company's other activities include resins, pharmaceuticals and medical products, machinery and industrial plants. The Teijin group is a leading polycarbonate producer in Japan and East Asia and has strong positions in polyesters and high performance materials such as aramid and carbon fibres. Teijin has a workforce of about 22,000 and its annual sales amount to around EURO 6 billion (consolidated, for the period ending 31 March 2000).