Sanyo Chemical pulls back in China

Japan’s Sanyo Chemical Industries will exit three businesses based in Nantong, China. The firm says it will transfer its superabsorbent polymer business to an unnamed Chinese company and close its plant there. Sanyo was the first Japanese maker of the disposable-diaper polymers to set up in China, in 2003, but it says competition has grown and profitability has fallen. Sanyo will also cease production of surfactants and urethane resins in Nantong, citing growing competition.