TOKYO -- Asahi Kasei is set to market, on a trial basis, a plant-derived new material that is renewable and more environmentally friendly than petroleum-derived counterparts for applications in fields such as auto manufacturing.
Japan's leading chemicals maker eventually plans to start mass-producing the cellulose nanofiber, or CNF, products by the end of 2020, after conducting trial production at its research lab in the city of Nobeoka in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki. Trial production will start by the end of 2018, company sources said.
