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Throughout our history, Kureha has grown alongside the development of society, leveraging the unique technological capabilities we have cultivated since our founding in 1944. In 2024, we celebrate our 80th anniversary and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have supported us on our journey.

In the previous fiscal year, Kureha Group launched its mid- to long-term management plan, “Toward Creating a New Future (FY2023-2030).” The business environment surrounding the Company in FY2023, the first year of the plan, was extremely severe.

These conditions particularly affected Kureha’s polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) business. PVDF is a resin that is widely used in electric vehicles as a binder material for lithium-ion battery cathodes and which we have positioned as a key growth driver. The termination of subsidies for electric vehicles in Europe and concerns about recession due to inflation, which have slowed the growth rate of the global electric vehicle market, resulted in a significant deviation from the financial targets we had projected at the beginning of the fiscal year.

In response to these changes in the business environment, we have formulated the "Kureha Group Medium to Long-Term Management Plan, the Rolling Plan 2025," which covers the period through FY2025. Under this plan, in addition to growing the PVDF business, we will strive to expand other existing businesses. We will also pursue thorough cost reductions.

Kureha Group’s Mid- to Long-term Management Plan “Toward Creating a New Future (FY2023-2030)” sets forth a management policy with three objectives: "continuous enhancement of economic value," "contribution toward resolving social issues" and "contribution to reduced environmental impact". To achieve these, we will focus on three priority measures: "revive Kureha’s technology-driven focus," "strengthen the management base" and "synergism between company and employees."

Among these priority measures, reviving Kureha’s technology-driven focus is crucial to our ability to achieve sustainable growth. Here, we will focus on R&D to develop new products and improve existing products, improve our production technology capabilities to produce high-quality products with low production cost, and pursue research and business development to create entirely new businesses.

Under the Kureha Vision, "a speciality solutions company that leverages proprietary technology and contributes to a new future for society," management and employees will work as one to innovate toward the future, starting now. Together, leveraging the original technologies we have cultivated since our founding, we will strengthen Kureha’s global presence as a technology-driven company that is essential to the realization of a sustainable society.

We look forward to your continued support.

June 2024Yutaka Kobayashi, President & Chief Executive Officer