Active focus on growth in Japan
Stronger local knowledge and better distribution facilities in Japan, gained in part through the joint venture with Koei Chemical since early 2003, allows us to respond to the needs of the Japanese market with excellent niche chemicals. “We have a strong competence base and a broad range of products.” says Per Westberg, Vice President of Sales Export, “By being the major global player in the supply of a number of key raw materials, we are a natural partner in areas like UV curing.”
In order to implement the focus on Japan and secure a position of growth, we are increasing selling and development activity through Koei-Perstorp and have employed a skilled market development resource in Kenji Kawabata. Kawabata is the former sales and marketing manager for selected adhesives and specialty chemicals within Nippon NSC Inc and his Koei-Perstorp team has collaborated closely our product managers, global market development and R&D team and will support us in creating awareness among Japanese customers of the ideal properties of our products and business relationships.
We have accumulated over 20 years of experience in the Japanese market but this April marks the company’s first appearance at the 4th Paint Show in Tokyo. We plan to host know-how seminars about specialty chemicals during the show and look forward to making new contacts.
We bring a competitive offer to Japan and as Westberg points out, “We have high quality standards, significant experience and increasing resources to develop tailored results with important partners. This coupled with our important local partnership for sales, supply and distribution gives us a very good position to build upon.”
The areas where our products are expected to have significant impact are the UV curing, waterborne coating and high solids coating segments. Westberg notes, “We have seen a positive response already and strongly believe in a good future for our brand in the specialized Japanese coatings market as well as other areas such as in polyurethane foam and the food and feed sector.”