Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation announced that it is expanding its CD-R and CD-RW disc production facilities in Singapore and building a new CD-R factory in Ireland.

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Unedited press release follows:

New Facility Expansion for CD-R and Other Products

November 27, 1996 – Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Akira Miura)has decided to expand its CD-R and CD-RW production facilities in Singapore, and to build a new CD-R production facility in Ireland. This expansion will increase Mitsubishi Chemical’s production facilities to 14 lines for CD-Rs, with a monthly capacity of 4.2 million, and 4 lines for CD-RWs, with a monthly capacity of 700 thousand.

1. Singapore (see attached sheet 1 for details)
Mitsubishi Chemical Infonics, a 100% subsidiary, will expand facilities as described below (Parent company name: Mitsubishi Chemical Singapore):

1) CD-R
Current production capacity is 1.8 million on 6 lines, including facilities now under construction. This project will add 4 new lines, increasing monthly production capacity by 1.2 million, bringing monthly plant capacity to 3.0 million on 10 lines. Construction costs are projected to be 21.1 million singapore dollars (Approx. 1.65 billion yen), with production scheduled to begin in mid 1997.

2) CD-RW
Production facilities are currently under construction, with operation scheduled to begin in early 1997 on one line with a monthly production capacity of 100 thous and. This project will add 3 more lines to the facility, increasing monthly production capacity by 600 thousand. Construction costs are budgeted at 22.2 million Singapore dollars (Approx. 1.74 billion yen), with production slated to begin at the end of 1997. The prototype facilities (Monthly production: 10,000) at the Mizushima Plant will be used for production, with marketing scheduled for December, 1996.

2. Ireland (see attached sheet 2 for details)
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation will establish a 100% subsidiary (100% subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical America, 100% subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical) on the site of the Verbatim plant in Limerick, Ireland. This new company will build 4 new lines to produce CD-Rs (Monthly capacity: 1.2 million). The projected investment is 11.4 million Ireland pounds (Approx. 1.92 billion yen), with production scheduled to begin in October 1997.

Notes:

CD-R: Abbreviation of CD-Recordable.
This is a compact disk on which information can be written once. After the CD has been written on, it can be read from a standard CD-ROM drive in the same way as a standard CD-ROM. CD-Rs are used to produce masters for CD-ROM title production, for the production of prototypes, and the storage of documents.

CD-RW: Abbreviation of CD-ReWritable.
This type of CD can be rewritten approximately 1,000 times. Since the reflectance ratiodiffers from standard CDs, they cannot be read on current CD-ROM drives. However, since a minor change in specifications will enable CD-RWs to be read, it is predicted that it will be possible to read CD-RWs on CD-ROM drives marketed in the near future. CD-ROMs can be read on CD-RW drives, and CD-Rs can be written to and read. In addition to being used for the mastering of CD-ROM title production as for CD-Rs, CD-RWs are expected to become a popular storage media among individual computer users.

<Attached Sheet 1>
Outline of Facility Expansion in Singapore

1. Outline of Company

2. Outline of Facility Expansion

1) CD-R
a) Details	4 lines, increasing monthly production capacity by 1.2 million
b) Construction Cost	21.1 million Singapore dollars (Approx. 1.65 billion yen)
c) Start of Operation	Mid 1997
2) CD-RW
a) Details	3 lines, increasing monthly production capacity by 600 thousand (for a total capacity of 700 thousand/month)
b) Construction Cost	22.2 million Singapore dollars (Approx. 1.74 billion yen)
c) Start of Operation	End 1997

1. Outline of Company

2. Outline of New Facility