DIC Expands Production Capacity for Blue Pigments for Color Filters —DIC seeks to solidify its top global market share for blue pigments for this application, as it has done for green pigments for this application—

Pigments for color filters are used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and electroluminescent (EL) displays for televisions, smartphones and other devices. Bolstered by growing demand, underpinned by growth in emerging economies, and a trend toward larger displays, DIC estimates that the global display market will continue to expand at a rate of approximately 3.5% annually between now and fiscal year 2025.

The molecular design of DIC’s blue pigments for color filters achieves outstanding tinting strength and particle size control, in addition to specialty surface processing, thereby ensuring highly stable dispersion and excellent brightness and contrast. Since they were launched in 2012, DIC’s A series, of blue pigments for color filters, which currently dominate the market, the pigments’ outstanding optical properties have continued to earned solid marks from customers, supporting significant growth in demand. This, together with increasing number of customers choosing to adopt DIC pigments and steady market growth, underscored the Company’s decision to expand its production facilities.

Under its current medium-term management plan, DIC108, DIC has positioned functional pigments containing pigments for color filters as a business that is expected to drive growth in the years ahead. As anticipated, the Company’s sales of these products have continued to increase steadily. DIC will capitalize on the expansion of its production capacity to boost sales 1.5 times the fiscal year 2016 level by fiscal year 2021, to solidify its top global market share for blue pigments for this application, as it has done for its green pigments for this application, currently the default standard worldwide.

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