Australia's Ansell is involved in personal protective equipment (PPE) such as chemical-resistant gloves and chemical protective clothing. Last year, the company acquired the PPE business of US-based Kimberly-Clark for approximately USD 600 million, gaining a well-recognised product and business base in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors. Japan will amend its Occupational Safety and Health Law in April 2024 to strengthen efforts to prevent work-related accidents caused by chemical substances. The need for chemical protection is increasing. We interviewed Augusto Accorsi, Chief Commercial Officer in charge of the Asia-Pacific region and other regions, about Japan's strategy.

One year after the revision of the Occupational Health and Safety Law, how has the market environment in Japan changed?

The number of chemicals subject to risk assessment has increased significantly from 674 before the amendment to approximately 2900, and the implementation of the regulation is expected to expand from manufacturing to tertiary industries such as hotels.
The Company is involved in the Guardian Chemical Service, a database that proposes the most suitable protective gloves according to chemical substances from a scientific point of view. It has accumulated data on the permeability of more than 50,000 chemical substances to protective gloves, the largest number in the industry, and evaluates their resistance while searching for products that match the application and conditions of use and providing test data. Before the amendment, the number of enquiries in Japan was around 900 per year, but after the amendment the number has increased rapidly to around 4,000.

How do you intend to capture the growing demand in Japan?

A dedicated Japan marketing organisation has been established and is working closely with distributors to understand the needs of end-users. The company is currently discussing how much to expand its human resources in Japan and which areas to focus on, and plans to invest heavily in Japan.

How does the acquisition of Kimberly-Clark's PPE business tie in with your Japan strategy?

The acquisition includes the PPE brand Kimtec, which is used in laboratories and cleanrooms and has a double-digit market share. Ansell had not had a presence in the scientific industry, such as semiconductor manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, but through the acquisition it was able to make up for this. In the future, the company will be able to offer its products to a wider range of customers, including Ansell products.
The acquisition will also strengthen the company's human resource base and add a new business called 'APEX', which will provide know-how on change management and contamination prevention in cleanroom environments. The company also plans to develop initiatives to collect used PPE and recycle it into other products, not only in the US but also in Japan and other parts of the world in the future.

How would you analyse the impact of the tariff policy pursued by the Trump administration in the US?

When the global supply chain was disrupted by the Covid-19, the company shifted its strategy to manufacturing its core products in multiple plants. Even if high tariffs are imposed in one country, we already have a flexible production system in place to manufacture and supply the same products in another country.

^{Interviewer: Toshikazu Saegusa
Source: Chemical Daily. Publication period is one year}

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