Shin-Etsu's History

Shin-Etsu 80th logoShin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. began with the coming together of Nagano Prefecture's (Shinano-area) water and Niigata Prefecture's (Echigo-area) limestone. Nagano Prefecture's plentiful water gave birth to electric power and the limestone that came from Niigata Prefecture was a key raw material, which was called, "Oyashirazu's great earth." Because of the presence of these two gifts of nature, Shin-Etsu Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., Ltd. was founded on September, 1926 to manufacture chemical fertilizer and limestone nitrogen.The history of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. began from this point.The company's "Shin" comes from Shinano and "Etsu" is taken from Echigo. Shin-Etsu's first 70 years (1926 – 1996)
A chronology of domestic development

• 1926 Shin-Etsu Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (Founding company)
• 1927 Naoetsu Plant constructed
• 1938 First facility of today's Gunma Complex established
• 1940 Name changed to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
• 1945 Takefu Plant constructed
• 1949 Shares listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange
• 1955 Nissin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. established
• 1960 Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd. established
• 1962 Shin-Etsu Astech Co., Ltd. established
• 1967 Shin-Etsu Metallurgical Co., Ltd., established
  Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd. established
• 1968 Kashima Vinyl Chloride Monomer Co., Ltd. established
  Nanyo Plant constructed
  Shin-Etsu Vinyl Acetate Co., Ltd. established
• 1969 Naoetsu Electronics Co., Ltd. established
• 1970 Kashima Plant constructed
• 1972 Shin-Etsu Quartz Products Co., Ltd. established
• 1976 Shin-Etsu Engineering Co., Ltd. established
• PVC Research Center and Silicone-Electronics Materials
  Research Center established
• 1977 Specialty Chemicals Research Center and Magnetic Materials
  Research Center established
• 1978 Shin-Etsu Kasei Co., Ltd. established
• 1984 Shin-Etsu Handotai Shirakawa Plant constructed
• 1986 Shin-Etsu Sealant Co., Ltd. established
• 1988 Advanced Functional Materials Research Center established
• 1989 Corporate Research Center established
• 1992 Matsuida plant of Gunma Complex constructed
• 2001 New Functional Materials Research Center established
• 2002 JAPAN VAM & POVAL CO.,LTD. established
  PVC Research Center was changed to PVC & Polymer Materials
  Research Center
• 2005 JAPAN VAM & POVAL Co. Ltd. becoming a wholly owned
  Shin-Etsu Group company
• 2006 TOB (take-over bid) of Mimasu Semiconductor Industry Co., Ltd completed
  
  Globalization (1960 – 1996)
  A chronology of the establishment of Shin-Etsu's global network

• 1960 C.I.R.E.S. (Portugal)
• 1973 Shintech, Inc. (U.S.A.)
  S.E.H. Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
• 1979 Shin-Etsu Handotai America, Inc. (S.E.H. America)
• 1984 Shin-Etsu Handotai Europe, Ltd. (S.E.H. Europe)
• 1985 K-Bin, Inc. (U.S.A.)
  Shin-Etsu Silicones of America, Inc.
• 1986 Shin-Etsu Silicone Korea Co., Ltd.
• 1987 Shin-Etsu Silicone Taiwan Co., Ltd
• 1988 Shin-Etsu (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
• 1989 Biocontrol Ltd. (Australia)
  MicroSi, Inc. (U.S.A.)
  Shin-Etsu Silicones Europe B.V. (The Netherlands)
• 1990 Shin-Etsu International Europe B.V. (The Netherlands)
  Shin-Etsu Singapore Pte. Ltd.
  Shin-Etsu Bio, Inc. (U.S.A.)
  Heraeus Shin-Etsu America, Inc. (U.S.A.)
• 1991 Shincor Silicones, Inc. (U.S.A.)
• 1993 Shin-Etsu Magnetics, Inc. (U.S.A.)
  S.E.H. (Shah Alam) Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia)
• 1995 Shin-Etsu Opto Electronic Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
  Shin-Etsu Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
  Shin-Etsu Singapore Pte. Ltd.
  Shin-Etsu Handotai Taiwan Co., Ltd.
• 1996 Simcoa Operations Pty. Ltd. (Australia)
• 1997 Silica Products, Inc. established
• 1999 A Dutch PVC business purchased and Shin-Etsu PVC B.V. established
• 2001 Asia Silicones Monomer Ltd. established
• 2002 Zhejiang Shin-Etsu High-Tech Chemical Co., Ltd. established
• 2003 Shin-Etsu Silicone International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. established
  SE Tylose GmbH&Co. KG established.