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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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) |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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 | Mar. | Established the present Certis Belchim B.V. through a share exchange agreement between ISK Biosciences Europe N.V. and Certis Europe B.V., a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. |
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| 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. |