Three major Japanese petrochemical companies announced that have agreed to merge their domestic plastics production operations, as they look to improve their competitiveness due to oversupply and growing competition from Chinese manufacturers. Mitsui Chemicals Inc, Idemitsu Kosan Company, and Sumitomo Chemical Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to merge their polyolefins operations, as they look to share costs and develop synergies in areas such as R&D, production, sales and distribut ...