Zeon Corporation has approved a significant new investment at its GPI facility within the Mizushima Plant in Kurashiki, Japan, aiming to reinforce its competitiveness in the rapidly growing C5 chemicals business.
The project will expand production capacity of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) by approximately 20%, a critical raw material used in Cyclo-Olefin Polymers (COP) and COP optical films—key growth products in Zeon’s portfolio.
DCPD is also essential for other high-value applications, including RIM compounds, and sits at the center of Zeon’s medium-term strategy under its “STAGE30” business plan.
The company said the expansion is designed to “secure a stable supply of DCPD without increasing production of piperylene and other materials used in commodity chemicals,” while also improving environmental performance. Zeon emphasized that the new facility will “utilize previously unused components,” contributing to lower carbon emissions.
Importantly, the company stated: “The new process is expected to reduce CO2 emissions more effectively than extraction of raw materials from C5 fractions, thereby contributing to carbon neutrality.”
Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of fiscal 2026, with completion targeted for September 2028.
The Mizushima Plant—operational since 1969—serves as Zeon’s flagship site for C5 fraction processing using its proprietary GPI process, producing materials such as isoprene, DCPD, piperylene, and 2-butyne for use in synthetic rubbers, resins, optical materials, and aroma chemicals.
Zeon said the investment reflects a broader strategy of portfolio restructuring and “selection and concentration” under STAGE30, with COP and COP optical film positioned as central growth engines amid rising global demand.
The company also reaffirmed its commitment to expanding capacity in related optical film operations, noting parallel projects aimed at scaling production of next-generation materials.
Zeon concluded that it will continue to “address market needs and meet societal expectations, while also contributing to more comfortable lives for people around the world.”
