Chemical makers cut output

Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and other chemical producers in Japan are suspending operations at local plants in the wake of evaporating demand and a steep decline in shipments to carmakers. Mitsui Chemicals’ subsidiary, Mitsui Chemicals Polyurethanes Inc., will shut down equipment used for making cushion materials at its plant in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, until March. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Chemical will stop manufacturing additives for detergents by the first quarter of 2009. This is the first time since the information-technology bubble collapsed around 2001 that a string of chemical producers have been forced to bring facilities to a standstill. (December 15, 2008)