Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical will expand capacity for polysulfone hollow-fiber membrane for use in APS dialyzers at the membrane spinning facility of its dialyzer plant in Okatomi, Nobeoka, Miyazaki. The expansion will raise its polysulfone hollow-fiber membrane spinning capacity to 34 million modules-equivalent/year upon start-up in October 2009.
Essentials of the capacity expansion
Location: Integrated spinning and assembly plant under construction in Okatomi, Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan.
Capacity: 6 million modules-equivalent/year polysulfone membrane for dry-pack dialyzers
Investment:˜¥2.8 billion
Groundbreaking: August 2008
Start-up: October 2009
Medical devices operations are marked as a focus for growth in the Asahi Kasei Group’s Growth Action–2010 strategic management initiative. Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical has made a number of investments to expand business in the field of dialyzers, also called artificial kidneys. In May 2008 it completed a new spinning plant for ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) hollow-fiber membrane, and it is currently constructing a new plant for polysulfone-membrane dialyzers with integrated spinning and assembly lines with start-up scheduled in October 2008.
The capacity expansion announced today will further advance Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical’s global dialyzer operations based on world-leading quality & cost-competitiveness in polysulfone hollow-fiber membranes, and enable an extension of operations to include the supply of hollow fiber to manufacturers performing dialyzer assembly both in Japan and overseas.
