Document DYqQeNvV8BN2bwRoOxEKd1Md

}nION CARBIDE CORPORATION MINING & METALS DIVISION P.O. BOX 579 NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. 14302 TEL: 716-285-3311 November 15,1971 NDy \7 1971 Mr. M. Kanno Tomoe Engineering Company 2, 3-Chome Nihonbashi Edobashi Chuo-Ku Tokyo, Japan Ltd. Dear Mr. Kanno: In Mr. Byrne's absence I am taking the liberty to reply to your letter of November 10. We worked closely with Dr. Fratzscher during the development stages of our agreement with Degussa to resell RG-144 and RG-244 and he always spoke very highly of our products. Degussa resells our products as their A -- 14 and A-28; so, technical ly, there is no RG-144 or RG-244 being sold in Europe under our name. The last shipments to Europe were made just two months ago; and, to our knowledge, A -- 14 and A-28 are being sold in good quantities. During the dock strikewe made special arrangements to ship to Europe from the East Coast because of their reported dire need for the products. This should be evidence that they are being accepted in Europe. Please note the attached curves showing sales growth for RG-144 and RG-244. Although I have not included the dollar figures, you can see that both products are being we I I-accepted in The U.S. We expect 1972 to continue the trend. I have included these to show that, in spite of much adverse publicity, asbestos toxicology questions have not deterred our Resin Grade sales. Most customers prefer RG-244 because it is less dusty than Aerosil. The enclosed report, "Airborne Asbestos", was prepared by the National Academy of Sciences. Pages 32 and 33 summarize the entire report and may be of value to you. The following information is not public and we wouId prefer that you keep it nternal. For business reasons we are not planning to continue --o use Degussa as our European distributor This may partially ac Count for Dr. Fratzscher's unfair words about RG-244 We have an a ternate plan to cover the European market and .do not expect any d Ccrease in sales. We really app reciate your rapid sales development for RG-244 and a smaI I token of our esteem is enroute to you. Please share these with your as ^ociates and perhaps we can find more during your visit in January. Have you a specific arrival time yet? Please note he article on "Calidria Asbestos" in the enclosed "ASBESTOS" magazine. We are having reprints made -- would you like any, or wi you have it translated? My very best personal regards to a I I ! urs, /cb EncIosures cc: Mr. R. II. Byrne Mr. J . RawI in Dr. A. Zee ha Tomoe Engineering Company, Ltd. DAINI MARUZEN BUILDING NO. 2, 3CHOME, NIHONBASHi EDOBASH1, CHUO KU TOKYO, JAPAN r.. Cf .J e. CABLE ADDRESS: TELEX: 0*2223500 EOMOT \ TELEPHONE : TOKYO 271*205 November 10* 1971 Mr. R. E. Byrne* Jr. Area Manager Marketingland Technology Union Carbide Corporation P. 0. Box 579 Niagara Palls* New York 14302 Subjecti Hitachi Kasei Co.. Ltd. Dear Hr. Ityrnet Since October 1971 Hitachi Kasei*s Plant has been using 2 to 3 ton per month of RG-244 which exceeds considerably the consumption quantity of 300 to 400 kg per month in the past; we therefore visited the plant to investigate the background of their use. As we informed you by our letter of August 13, they originally planned to take gradual steps of replacing Aerosil with F.G-2a4, but their study in the past year has been materi alized at last and since the latter part of October they have succeeded! in replacing with RG-244 all the consumption quantity of AerosiL except for a special F.R.P. This success has triggered! the sudden increase in quantity used of RG-244. On the other hand* Japan Aeros-i 1 Co. immediately became awfare of Hitachi's switch-over and has hurriedly brought Dr. Frat^scher. who is the service manager in Pigment Department of PoT.'yusa Co 7* to Japan in order to defend their market. In view'ax the fact that Hitachi is the leading company in the Japanese jF.R.P. industry* and their formal acceptance of RG-244 will certainly cause a great impact on other companies* Japan Aerosil if3 seriously concerned that the above outcome will affect tHeir other customers. jVe were told that Dr. Fratzscher already visited polyester manufacturers* brought up the subject that there is a possibility of mesothelioma being caused by the use of asbestos and emph4sized that AG-144 and 244 are not being used in Europe any longor. Although we understood that UCC had supplied RG-144 and 244 to Deggusa Co. in the past* we would like to know if the above materials are being supplied to them at present. l/aifU M.J,&i nt Mr. R. E. fcyrne, Jr. 2 November 10, 1971 Incidentally, Showa Highpolymer Co., which you visited during youb visit to Japan in March, has started to use RG-2UU at a rate pf about 500 kg to 1 ton per month. can be said that as a result of your visit to our our sales performance for the resin grade has moved compared with the past performance. Although our Sk is short at present because of the U.S. Westcoast , it seems that the above situation will be improved nts during the cool off period arrive next month and e a good business for the resin grade next year. i are looking forward to the forthcoming training program i January, because we are certain that we will benefit from it. Yours very truly, T0M0E ENGINEERING CO., LTD. H.Fukuma/yw cci Mr. John L. Myers O'-!' Dr. /lien L. Zecha\i M. Kanno, Manager, Group II Union Carbide Products Dept.