UBE has a history tracing back to the turn of the 19th century
with the founding of the Okinoyama Coal Mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
The coal development project was started
as a silent partnership by local investors in what was then a small community.

Driven by founder Sukesaku Watanabe's vision of
"creating industries with infinite possibilities from the finite resources of coal,
to bring long-term prosperity to communities,"
the people of UBE continued expanding into new business areas
to meet the needs of society. The machinery business evolved
from manufacturing and servicing machinery used in coal mining,
and the cement business leveraged coal resources in the Ube area
and widely available limestone and spoil (overburden) from coal mining in the surrounding region.
The chemicals business evolved from using coal raw material
to manufacture ammonium sulfate for fertilizer. These three businesses form the cornerstones of the UBE Group today.

The pioneering spirit of UBE that has existed
for more than a century is carried on today
through operations in Chiba and Sakai, Japan,
and extending to international operations encompassing Spain
and Thailand. Our founder, Sukesaku Watanabe, embraced the ideals of coexistence
and mutual prosperity to achieve corporate growth that brings prosperity to communities.
These ideals drive UBE as we continue to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

  • ① 1897～1942Evolution from a coal mining enterprise to a chemicals business

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    Management

    • 1897

      Okinoyama Coal Mine established as a silent partnership.

    • 1914

      Ube Shinkawa Iron Works established as a silent partnership.

    • 1923

      Ube Cement Production, Ltd. established.

    • 1933

      Ube Nitrogen Industry, Ltd. established.

    • 1942

      Ube Industries, Ltd. established through amalgamation of the four foregoing companies.

    Business/Products

    • 1933

      Production of Ammonium sulfate started.

  • ② 1943～1970Restoration and modernization, entry into the petrochemical market

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    Management

    • 1951

      ・Central Research Laboratory (now Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratory) established.

    • 1955

      ・Isa Cement Factory established. ・Ube Caprolactam Factory established.

    • 1964

      ・Polyethylene plant established (now UBE-MARUZEN POLYETHYLENE Co., Ltd. ). ・Kanda Cement Factory established. ・Representative offices set up in New York City and Düsseldorf (now UBE America Inc. and UBE Europe GmbH).

    • 1966

      ・Ube Nitto Kasei Co., Ltd. established (now UBE Exsymo CO.,LTD.)

    • 1967

      ・Sakai Factory established.

    • 1969

      ・Ube Ammonia Industry established.

    Business/Products

    • 1955

      ・Production of Caprolactam started.

    • 1959

      ・Production of Nylon-6 started.

    • 1965

      ・Production of Polyethylene started.

    • 1968

      ・Polymer Laboratory established (now Future Tech Laboratory).

    • 1969

      ・Production of 1,6-hexanediol started.

  • ③ 1971～1985Diversification of the chemicals business, laying the foundation for specialty chemicals

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    Management

    • 1971

      ・Polybutadiene plant established in Chiba(now UBE Elastomer Co. Ltd.).

    • 1980

      ・Okinoyama Coal Center was set up. ・Representative office established in Singapore (now UBE Singapore Pte., Ltd.).

    Business/Products

    • 1971

      ・Production of Elastomer started.

    • 1973

      ・Production of Catecol and Hydroquinone started.

    • 1979

      ・Production of MEKO started. ・Production of Nylon-12 started.

    • 1983

      ・Production of Polyimide film started.

      ・Production of Boron trichloride started.

    • 1985

      ・Production of Separation membranes started.

  • ④ 1986～2000Growth of the specialty chemicals business, the start of globalization

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    Management

    • 1990

      ・Ems-Ube, Ltd. established.

    • 1993

      ・Capital investment was made in PQM of Spain. (now UBE Corporation Europe, S.A.U.)

    • 1997

      ・Ube Industries celebrates the 100th anniversary of business operations. ・Thai Caprolactam Public Co., Ltd. and Ube Nylon (Thailand) Ltd.(now UBE Chemicals (Asia) Public Company Limited) opened for business.

    • 1998

      ・Ube-Mitsubishi Cement Corporation. (joint venture with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation) established. ・THAI SYNTHETIC RUBBERS COMPANY LIMITED opened for business.

    • 1999

      ・Ube Machinery Corporation, Ltd. established(now UBE MACHINERY CORPORATION, Ltd.).

    • 2000

      ・Subsidiary established in Shanghai (now UBE [Shanghai] Ltd.).

    Business/Products

    • 1986

      ・Production of High purity nitric acid started. ・Production of Silicon nitride started.

      ・Market cultivation for Tyranno Fiber initiated.

    • 1992

      ・Production of Dimethyl carbonate started.

    • 1993

      ・Production of Separators started.

    • 1998

      ・Production of Lithium-ion rechargeable battery electrolytes started.

    • 2000

      ・Production of UBESTA® XPA started. ・Succeeded to develop Polymide Porous Membrane for the first time in the world.

  • ⑤ 2001～Transforming into the specialty chemicals-focused UBE Group to achieve sustainable growth

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    Management

    • 2004

      ・Ube Industries establishes a comprehensive partnership with Yamaguchi University for research and development. ・UBE-MARUZEN POLYETHYLENE Co., Ltd. (joint venture with Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd.) established.

    • 2006

      ・TSRC-UBE (NANGTONG) CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES Co., Ltd. established in China.

    • 2007

      ・Ube Industries celebrates the 110th anniversary of business operations. ・UBE i Plaza opened as a visitor center.

    • 2008

      ・MC FERTICOM Co., Ltd. established by 5 fertilizer companies.

    • 2009

      ・UBE Fine Chemicals (Asia) Co., Ltd. established.

    • 2010

      ・UBE Latin America Servicos Ltda. established in Brazil.

    • 2011

      ・UBE MAXELL CO., LTD. (joint venture with Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.) established. ・UBE KOREA CO., LTD. established in Korea. ・Ube Industries establishes joint venture to produce substrate materials for displays with Samsung Mobile Display Co, Ltd. ・Ube Taiwan Co., Ltd. established in Taiwan. ・UBE Machinery India Private Ltd. established in India.

    • 2012

      ・UBE Industries India Private Ltd. established.

    • 2014

      ・UBE Machinery Mexico S.A. de C.V. established in Mexico.

    • 2016

      ・Osaka research & Development Center established.

    • 2019

      ・Repol S.L. in Spain was acquired (now Repol S.L.U.).

    • 2020

      ・Premium Composite Technology North America, Inc. in the U.S. was acquired (now UBE Engineered Composites, Inc.) .

    • 2022

      ・Ube Industries Ltd. changed its trade name to UBE Corporation. ・UBE corporation and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation merged their cement businesses and established Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation. (MUCC)

    Business/Products

    • 2003

      ・Polyimide is used for part of JAXA's asteroid probe "Hayabusa" fuselage.

    • 2007

      ・Production of Polyurethane dispersion started.

    • 2016

      ・Ube Isa mine, the cumulative shipment of limestone achieved 500 million tons.