The Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Mitsui Chemicals have launched a joint study into standardizing and optimizing chemical logistics, which underpin society and industry alike. The companies intend to gradually roll out efforts under a number of relevant themes, with those that can be quickly put in place set to be implemented starting this fiscal year. Hopes are to lead the way on cross-company efforts in the chemical industry’s logistics sector, where companies often have similar issues.

Through these efforts, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Mitsui Chemicals will aim to achieve stronger, more sustainable chemical logistics. The study will focus on collaborative transportation in the Nagoya area and other areas, mutual use of transportation networks, collaborative use of coastal trading vessels and expansion of collaborative logistics projects that use tools for transportation route matching.

Further, Mitsui Chemicals and the Mitsubishi Chemical Group will look to standardize and develop an information base for chemical logistics – steps that will be crucial to pursuing joint logistics – by leveraging the activities of a regional logistics networking council under SIP 2 in conjunction with national government, local government and other organizations.

“There are an increasing number of concerns around supply chains in recent times, including frequent natural disasters, shifting global affairs and an aging society. And this is an important point for the chemical industry, which not only offers products and solutions to support healthy, comfortable and convenient lifestyles but also has the duties of maintaining stable supply to customers and providing solutions for the various issues faced by society and the earth.

“The logistics crisis being forecast due to labor shortages could potentially hinder that stable supply, and is not something that can be dealt with by any one company alone. I believe as such that chemical industry logistics – which take many particular forms, and come with many constraints – needs not only a competitive model, but also a collaborative one. What is more, reducing GHG emissions from logistics will be an absolute must if we are to achieve the goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

“While we have decided on this occasion to tackle these issues in partnership with Mitsui Chemicals, our intent going forward is to reach agreements with a wide range of partners from throughout the chemical industry, allowing us to accelerate our efforts on this front,” said Fukuda Nobuo, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Mitsubishi Chemical Group

Commenting on the development, Sambe Masao, CDO, Sector President, Digital Transformation Sector, Mitsui Chemicals, said: “While the modern logistics sector requires solutions to a range of pressing issues – such as the pursuit of white logistics, countermeasures against the year 2024 problem and efforts to reduce GHG emissions – there are limits to what an individual company can do to solve these various issues with logistics, which represent an important part of business operations. We therefore see significant meaning in working alongside the Mitsubishi Chemical Group to make Japan more competitive by pursuing collaboration and sharing in the logistics sector.

By combining our logistics expertise and DX technologies together, we and the Mitsubishi Chemical Group intend to lead the way on national innovation in chemical logistics.”