Business &
Products
HighChem Co., Ltd. operates in five business areas: Chemicals, Electronics, Life Sciences, Carbon Design, and Energy.
Our Strength
With our Tokyo headquarters as our base, we have expanded our bases to cover the whole of China, and are also expanding our bases to North America and Europe.
Furthermore, we are actively expanding globally, including by promoting collaboration with business partners in India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
More than 50% of our employees have doctoral or master's degrees in chemistry, biotechnology, etc. HighChem has a wealth of highly specialized human resources.
Another notable feature of the company is that since its founding, it has built a culturally integrated organization centered on Japanese and Chinese people, and in recent years has added talent from India, North America, and Southeast Asia, transforming the company into an even more diverse organizational culture.
We have four research laboratories in Japan and China, with over 50 researchers on staff. Furthermore, we have strong research and development capabilities in the fields of decarbonization and Energy, including conducting joint research with leading universities around the world.
We have also opened our own catalyst factory in China and are leading the world as a leading company in the field of precious metal solid catalysts.
As a leading company in fine chemical trade between Japan and China, we provide a speedy and stable supply of cost-effective products. We are also building a global Chemicals supply system that extends beyond Japan and China.
We are expanding our business globally in the import and export of advanced semiconductor materials and precision chemicals. We also engage in technological development and build supply chains by recruiting highly skilled personnel and collaborating with universities and venture companies.
In the Life science field, we offer a range of products and services that are rooted in everyday life, such as pharmaceuticals, food additives, food, agricultural chemicals, etc. Through rigorous quality control, we support people's safe and secure lives.
We are engaged in the development of carbon recycling technology utilizing CO2, as well as the development, manufacturing, and scale-up of biochemical technology and catalysts. In addition, as an exit strategy, we are also working on the social implementation of new technologies.
We are engaged in advanced initiatives such as the global expansion of lithium-ion battery materials and energy storage systems, the development of redox flow batteries, and participation in national projects related to the promotion of hydrogen energy.
Projects
In addition to Europe and the US, HighChem is actively expanding into Asian countries, including Southeast Asia other than China. India, where the population continues to grow and the economy is growing rapidly, is no exception. In India, the government is working at a fast pace to transition the automotive industry to EVs (electric vehicles), and has set a goal of increasing EVs to more than 30% of new car sales by 2030. In the midst of this, Indian companies looking for high-quality EV and ESS (storage battery) materials have focused their attention on network HighChem has built up over the years in Japan and China.
Hydrogen is expected to become the next generation Energy to realize a decarbonized society. HighChem 's catalyst development capabilities and scale-up capabilities are expanding into the field of hydrogen Energy. The company has teamed up with a major Chinese precious metals supplier to participate in a Japan-China joint project by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (equivalent to the former Science and Technology Agency of Japan). The two companies have succeeded in developing a high-performance catalyst to extract hydrogen from formic acid, which is attracting attention as a "hydrogen carrier" that can safely and efficiently store and transport hydrogen, as well as a technology to synthesize formic acid from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and are currently considering applying for a patent.
The first interview with a business partner in the HighChem Story was planned with the cooperation of OAT Agrio Co., Ltd., which is involved in the research, development, manufacturing and sales of pesticides and fertilizers. OAT Agrio is a major pesticide company that was spun off from Otsuka Chemical. For HighChem, it is an important business partner with whom we have had a business relationship for over 10 years. The member of this roundtable discussion was Hirofumi Nakagawa from OAT Agrio, who came all the way from Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture.