Nippon Paper Chemicals completes installation of new optical film coater at its Higashimatsuyama mill in Japan

TOKYO, Dec. 9, 2011 (Press Release) - Nippon Paper Chemicals Co., Ltd. (President: Masami Yamaki), a Nippon Paper Group company, today completed the installation of a new coater (coating machine, No. 6 coater) at its Higashimatsuyama Mill (Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture), the Company's production base for its film coating business.

The decision to install the new machine was made in November 2010 with a view to strengthening the Group's businesses other than paper as well as its paper business, and construction work has been in progress since that time. With an investment value of 2.2 billion yen, this brings to four the total number of LCD optical film coaters at the Higashimatsuyama Mill.

The Nippon Paper Chemicals Higashimatsuyama Mill manufactures distinctive functional film making full use of advanced film processing technology, and offers LCD optical film in particular that meets the rigorous quality requirements of the market. There is expected to be fresh growth in demand for LCD optical film as a result of the expansion of smartphones and tablet terminals, and the installation of this new No. 6 coater will allow Nippon Paper Chemicals to respond quickly to market needs.