Company

History

1920's

1920 Sep. In Osaka, Hiroichiro Ishihara established Nanyo Mining Partnership Co., a firm dedicated to iron mining in Surimedan, Johol on the Malay Peninsula.
1924 May. Purchased an iron and manganese mine in Kemaman, Torenganu on the Malay Peninsula.
1929 Aug. Renamed the Firm to Ishihara Sangyo Marine Partnership.

1930's

1934 Mar. Reorganized the Firm into a limited company. Opened the Kishu Mine (copper and sulfide ores) in Mie Prefecture.
1938 Oct. Began building Yokkaichi Plant in Mie Prefecture. (Completed copper refinery and sulfuric acid plants in January 1941.)

1940's

1943 Jun. Transferred shipping business to Nihon Marine Co., Ltd. Renamed the Firm to Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd.
1949 Jun. Dissolved the Firm in compliance with the Industrial Readjustment Law. Restarted operations under the new company: Sanwa Mining & Industrial Co., Ltd., which was renamed Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd. the same month.
Jul. Listed Company’s stock on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges.

1950's

1950 Apr. Constructed a herbicide plant in Yokkaichi.
1952 Jul. Constructed a chemical fertilizer plant in Yokkaichi.
1954 Mar. Constructed a sulfate processed titanium dioxide plant in Yokkaichi.
1958 Jun. Opened a research institute in Yokkaichi, which was renamed the Central Research Institute in June 1963.

1960's

1961 Jul. Constructed a ammonium sulfate plant in Yokkaichi.
1963 Mar. Constructed a titanium yellow (yellow pigment) plant in Yokkaichi.
1965 Apr. Relocated the Central Research Institute to Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture.

1970's

1970 Sep. Completed a wastewater treatment facility in Yokkaichi.
1971 Jun. Constructed a synthetic rutile plant in Yokkaichi. (Stopped production in March 1994.)
1974 Oct. Constructed a chloride processed titanium dioxide plant in Yokkaichi.
Dec. Constructed a sulfuric acid plant in Yokkaichi that employed the sulfur combustion method.
1976 Jan. Transferred fertilizer manufacture and marketing business to Ishihara Hiryo Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Dissolved in February 1990.)
1978 May. Closed the Kishu Mine.

1980's

1981 Oct. Constructed an organic intermediate CTF plant in Yokkaichi.
1983 Dec. Constructed a magnetic iron oxide plant in Yokkaichi.
1986 Aug. Established ISK SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., ISK's subsidiary in Singapore, and constructed a chloride processed titanium dioxide plant.
1989 Aug. Transferred agrochemicals marketing business in Japan to Ishihara Sangyo Agrochemicals Co., Ltd., one of ISK's subsidiaries. (now ISK Biosciences K.K.)

1990's

1990 Nov. Purchased SDS Enterprise in the U.S. (now ISK Biosciences Corporation)
1991 Apr. Purchased magnetic materials business from Harcros Pigments Inc. in the U.S. (now ISK MAGNETICS, INC.)
1993 Mar. Completed New Ishihara Building in Osaka. Moved the head office into the new building in April 1993.
1994 Dec. Established SUD ISK-SNPE S.A., a joint venture in France producing fine chemical products. (Terminated the joint venture in July 2005.)
1996 Jul. Transferred agrochemicals marketing business in Europe to ISK BIOSCIENCES EUROPE N.V., one of ISK's subsidiaries in Europe.
1998 Feb. Sold agrochemicals business in the U.S. to Zeneca Limited. (now Syngenta Limited)
1999 Feb. Commenced custom manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredient in Yokkaichi.

2000's

2001 Mar. Withdrew from business of magnetic materials for videotapes.
Dec. In Yokkaichi, constructed a facility for manufacturing HVJ-E vector for gene function analysis. Available until March 2022.
2005 Mar. Acquired 100% ownership of Fuji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd.
Jun. Decided to recall Ferosilt voluntarily (stopped selling in April 2005) and then, received local governments' orders to take measures under the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act.
Nov. Established a joint venture for marketing agrochemicals (ZHEJIANG ISK & TAURUS CHEMICAL CO., LTD.) in China.
2006 Sep. Formed a business alliance with United Phosphorus Limited (UPL), the largest manufacturer of agrochemicals in India.
2008 Mar. Reviewed the company's overall compliance status. (Announced findings of the review and measures to prevent recurrence in May 2008.)

2010's

2010 Jun. Launched Environmental Materials on a full scale.
Sep. Acquired 100% ownership of Yokkaichi Energy Service Co., Ltd., a private electricity generating company.(Absorbed the company for merger in October 2018.)
2013 Aug. Shut down the chloride processed titanium dioxide plant of ISK SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.(Completed liquidation in March 2020.)
2015 Apr. Established ISK BIOSCIENCES INDIA PVT. LTD.
Dec. Completed the final disposal of Ferosilt.
2018 Jan. Established ISK BIOSCIENCES (THAILAND) LTD.
Established ISK (SHANGHAI) CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
Sep. Received approval for manufacturing and marketing of a veterinary drug in Japan.

2020's

2022 Nov. Received U.S. conditional approval of veterinary drug.
2023 Sep. Completed corporate breakup of Fuji Titanium Industry ,and established joint venture company MF Material Co.,Ltd. with Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
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