Daikin announces to establish a fluoroelastomer plant in France | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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	[latest news list]	June 19, 2001

Daikin announces to establish a fluoroelastomer plant in France

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Daikin Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan, Noriyuki Inoue, president & CEO) has announced an establishment of its fully owned subsidiary company in France, as a global production site of fluorochemical business, named "Daikin Chemical France S.A.S." The new company will manufacture fluoroelastomers, which Daikin will operate as its first commercial basis in Europe.

It will be located on the Pierre-Benite site of Atofina S.A., outside of Lyon, France. The construction is scheduled in the beginning of next year and the commercial operation is expected to start in February 2003.

The new plant introduces Daikin's newly developed production technologies for fluoroelastomers, assimilated with our established technologies. The plant will benefit by utilizing the existing facilities of Atofina's industrial site It will also enable the products to meet the market demands and allow them to be exported not only to European countries, but to the United States and Asian countries as well.

The European countries represent one of the most important markets, accounting for approximately 20% of the global demand for fluorochemicals. Fluroelastomers have excellent performance characteristics in aggressive chemicals, petrol and in high temperature environments. The diversified applications include automotive parts such as fuel hose and sealing materials for the semiconductor and chemical industries. Anticipated high growth applications include injection molding and turbo charge hoses for diesel engines, especially in Europe.

Daikin owns a pre-compound company for fluoroelastomers (Daikin Chemical Netherlands established in January, 1998 in Netherlands.) Together with the new company in France making base polymers, we aim to expand our sales in Europe, aligning the production units from raw materials to products and corresponding customers' needs respectively.

Profile of the New Company

1)	Company Name:	Daikin Chemical France S.A.S.
2)	Activities:	Production of fluoroelastomers
3)	Capital:	9.45 Million Euro (Approx. 110 Million Yen) Fully owned by Daikin Industries, Ltd.
4)	Address:
5)	Establishment:	June, 2001
6)	Start of Operation:	February, 2003
7)	Employee:	23

Profile of ATOFINA S.A.

1)	Company Name:	ATOFINA S.A.
2)	Headquarters :
3)	Representative:
4)	Establishment:	April, 2000
5)	Activities:	Sales and production of chemicals (petrochemicals and etc.)
6)	Sales:	21 Billion Euro (consolidated) No. 5 in the chemical field

TotalFina Elf S.A., mother company of ATOFINA

TotalFina Elf S.A. was created by the merger between TotalFina S.A. and Elf- Aquitaine S.A. in April, 2000 and is the fourth largest petrochemical company in the world. (Sales : 115 Billion Euro)
Following the merger, ATOFINA was created as the integrated company between Elf-Atochem, former chemical subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine and chemical division of TotalFina.

DAIKIN CHEMICAL NETHERLANDS B. V.

1)	Company Name:	DAIKIN CHEMICAL NETHERLANDS B. V.
2)	Address:	Maaskade 16,5347 KD Oss, the Netherlands
3)	Establishment:	January, 1998
4)	Start of Operation:	December,1998
5)	Capital:	2.25 million NLG Fully owned by Daikin Industries, Ltd
6)	Employee:	7
7)	Activities:	Pre-compound of fluoroelastomer

DAIKIN CHEMICAL EUROPE GmbH

1)	Company Name:	DAIKIN CHEMICAL EUROPE GmbH
2)	Address:	Immermannstr, 65D, 40210, Düsseldorf, Germany
3)	Establishment:	April , 1992
4)	Start of Operation:	0.8 million DM
5)	Employee:	18
6)	Activities:	Sales of fluorochemical products

For further information please contact:

DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.
[Head Office]	Umeda-Center Bldg, 2-4-12, Nakazaki-Nish, Kita-Ku, Osaka, 530-8323, JAPAN Michio Shiba (General manager of public relations department) TEL +81-6-6373-4348 E-mail: info@inf.daikin.co.jp URL: www.daikin.com
[Tokyo Office]	Shinjuku-Sumitomo Bldg,2-6-1, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo, 163-0235, JAPAN Takero Inoue (General manager of public relations department) TEL +81-3-3344-8030
DAIKIN CHEMICAL EUROPA GmbH
[Germany]	Immermannstr, 65D, 40210, Düsseldorf, Germany Yashuhiko Hirai (President) TEL: +49-211-179225-0 FAX: +49-211-1640732

Note : Following is only for the news release in English.
Outline of Daikin Industries, Ltd.

Daikin Industries, Ltd. is a global leader in the manufacture of commercial-and industrial use air conditioning systems and holds more than one-third of the market share in Japan. The Company is also one of the leaders in fluorochemicals industry, with approximately 20% share of the world market. Daikin boasts an unparalleled combination of mechanical, electronic, and chemical expertise as well as robust R & D capabilities. The Company is continued to leverage these strengths to create new, innovative products and flexible, highly efficient production systems. Daikin is a dynamic global company with a well-established presence in five major areas; Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. Thus, Daikin is poised to excel in an increasingly borderless business environment.

1)	Company Name :	DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.
2)	Head office:	Umeda-Center Bldg., 2-4-12, Nakazaki-Nishi, Kita-Ku, Osaka, 530-8323, JAPAN
3)	President:	Noriyuki Inoue
4)	Product:	Air-conditioning and industrial refrigeration equipment, Fluorochemicals, Oil hydraulics and lubrication equipment, Defense products, Computer graphics, Semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
5)	Net sales:	531.9billion yen (2000)
6)	Employee:	14,280 (2000)
7)	URL:	www.daikin.com

For more information, please contact
	Daikin Industries, Ltd.

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