The March 11 quake was measured at a magnitude of 9.0, making it the most powerful earthquake recorded to have hit Japan. The quake caused unprecedented damage throughout the Tohoku and Kanto regions, and left coastal areas devastated by the massive tsunami. In an instant, we witnessed the terrible loss of many precious people, as their peaceful lives were swept away.
Fortunately, no employees of the Adeka Group were injured in the disaster. However, the disaster interrupted our manufacturing and sales activities at the Soma Factory, Kashima Factory, Kashima Factory?West and Sendai Regional Office. The Fuji Factory was also forced to temporarily suspend manufacturing due to rolling blackouts.
Right after the quake hit, Adeka formed a temporary disaster response center headed by myself, and with all company directors serving as members. The center moved quickly to gather information and respond to the situation. Thanks to the hard work of all involved, including the employees at our plants, we were able to restore manufacturing operations to their pre-quake levels even sooner than expected.
The Adeka Group has set five major goals for all employees to pursue to achieve a rapid recovery that sets the Group on the path outlined in its business strategies.
The Adeka Group has set a corporate goal of generating annual net sales of €300 billion by 2017, when we will mark our 100th anniversary. This goal also means that the Group must evolve into a corporate group whose business and social contributions are in line with generating €300 billion in net sales. As such, the Group is endeavoring to change the structure of its businesses under our medium-term management policies, so as to strengthen our business position as a stepping stone for growth.
The Group has chosen to pursue a strategy of further selectivity and increased business focus in order to become more competitive, and we are making a strong push to develop new products and expand the scale of international business as strategies for growth. We have positioned the polymer additives and food segments as core business segments. In these segments, we wield a competitive advantage in terms of the scale of our business and market share while enjoying a technology edge, and are pursuing measures under a growth strategy. Additionally, we have positioned the segment of IT and electronic chemicals as a growth segment, where we are leveraging our own technologies to develop next-generation products, and expanding this business so that it becomes our next core segment.
In addition to our existing areas of business, we are focusing on developing new areas of business in the fields of energy, environment and life sciences, as areas with growth potential. In these segments, we are bridging core technologies and developing new technologies.
The Adeka Group will continue endeavoring to meet the expectations of stakeholders and be responsive to their needs, through a commitment to managing CSR and strengthening our corporate governance, and by making social contributions through our business operations. We will align the Group in the pursuit of shared management policies and a common vision, and develop global employees who are receptive to diverse values and different cultures.
The Adeka Group will strive to gain an even better grasp of shifting economic and social trends across the globe, so that we can better understand the needs of society. We will continually examine the value that we can offer through our products and our technologies and services, in order to continue being needed by society.
The Adeka Group has overcome difficulties and crises throughout its corporate history, always marked by the positive and upbeat attitude of the employees who came before us. The recent disaster has truly tested the Japanese people, but it is times like these when it is important for all the employees of the Adeka Group to be united, and to display a positive and upbeat attitude in our actions.
I will personally take leadership in facing the challenges before us, and I promise that the Adeka Group will continue to do its part to help areas that have been affected by the disaster.
