- Business
- Daiichi Kigenso Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TSE:4082) manufactures and sells zirconium compounds and other inorganic chemicals for applications in catalysts, electronics, fine ceramics, fuel cells, and environmental technologies. The company produces high-purity zirconium oxide; electro-melting stabilized zirconium oxide; ceria-zirconia composite oxides for automotive catalysts; cesium compounds including cesium flux in wire and ring forms; rare earth compounds such as cerium and scandium; various sols including zirconia sol; zirconium silicate; non-oxide zirconium products; metal sulfides; and zircon sand. These products serve industries including emission gas purification catalysts, oxygen sensors, refractories, brakes, dental materials, coatings, thermal barrier coatings, precision casting, adsorbents, cross-linking agents, and lithium-ion battery additives.
Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Osaka, Japan, the company operates production sites in Japan including the Gotsu Site in Shimane, Fukui Site, and a new R&D Center with pilot plant in Suminoe-ku, Osaka established in 2023. Daiichi Kigenso Kagaku Kogyo maintains a global footprint through consolidated subsidiaries such as DKK (Shanghai) Materials Trading Co., Ltd. in China, Vietnam Rare Elements Chemical Joint Stock Company in Vietnam, DKK Thai Materials Trading Co., Ltd. in Thailand, DKK America Materials, Inc. in Michigan, USA, and DKK Logistics Corporation in Japan; it also holds equity-method affiliates including Shandong Guangyin DKK New Materials Co., Ltd. and Shandong Guangyin DKK Environment Technology Co., Ltd. in China. Products are marketed internationally to automotive, electronics, energy, and industrial sectors.
In recent developments, the company completed a multi-phase SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation project in April 2025 across five global bases (Japan headquarters, Vietnam, China, USA, and Thailand) in partnership with Business Engineering Corporation, earning the SAP Japan Customer Award 2024 in the Mid-Market Catalyst category. It launched a new zirconia material, DKZ-366, as a cathode additive for lithium-ion secondary batteries to enhance safety and longevity in December 2024. Additionally, a subsidiary began production at a new plant in August 2023 with full operations planned for June 2025, while the firm transitioned to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market in 2022 and initiated the medium-term management plan 'DK-One Next'.