You will hear a report presented by a journalist from Tokyo. He talks about the

Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.
You will hear a report presented by a journalist from Tokyo. He talks about the difficult situations met by Japanese chemical groups. He gives some important figure of four biggest chemical groups in Japan.
For each question 23-30 , mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
You have forty-five seconds to read through the questions.
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Now listen , and mark A, B or C.
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                        By Paul Abrahams in Tokyo
Results from Japan’s largest petrochemicals companies for the year to March 31st reflect the crisis facing a sector plagued by sluggish domestic demand, over capacity, plunging prices and the appreciation of the yen.
News of the sector’s dire trading position follows this week’s decision by Showa Denko to sell its polystyrene business.
The company, a marginal manufacturer, sold its 30,000 tonnes a year Kawasaki Plant to Asahi Chemical, Japan’s largest polystyrene manufacturer with capacity of about 333,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to about 25 per cent of the market The move was the latest in miles of alliances and mergers as the troubled industry restructure. Mitsubishi Petrochemical, the country’s biggest plastics group, reported a loss of Y 8. 39 bn ($ 80m) compared with pre-tax profits last year of Y8. 25 bn. The group made an operating loss of Y 13. 8 bn, the first since 1982. The poor result came despite cost-cutting measures, lower raw material prices, and Y4 bn worth of profits from equity sales.
Turnover fell 12. 2 per cent from Y372 bn to Y326 bn, as prices and volumes declined. Earnings per share, which reached Y52. 5 in 1991, fell to a loss per share of Y9. 44. The group, which is scheduled to merge with Mitsubishi Kasei on October 1st, cut its dividend from Y8 per share to Y4. Mitsubishi Kasei’s pre-tax profits fell 76. 8 per cent from Y9. 3 bn last year to Y2. 2 bn. The group, reported its first operating loss in 40 years at Y467 bn, and only managed to post positive pre-tax results by selling Y15. 7 bn worth of equities. Turnover fell 1. 8 per cent, the fourth yearly decline, to Y696. bn The dividend was haired to Y3 bn per share.
Mr. Morihisa Takano, managing director, said the newly merged group would generate pre-tax profits of Y10bn on sales of Y55 bn during the year to March 1995.
He predicted petrochemicals prices would bottom out during the summer. No decision had been made about the dividend, but the new company could pass it during the current year, the pre-tax profits at Mitsui Petrochemical industries, Japan’s biggest polyethylene maker, plunged 75 per cent from Y9 bn to Y2. 26 bn on sales down 9. 3 per cent at Y272 bn. The company blamed poor demand for the slump which offset the benefits of cost-cutting measures. The dividend is unchanged at per share, the group forecasts pre-tax profits for the current year marginally up at Y3 bn on turnover of Y276 bn.
Shin-Etsu, one of Japan’s biggest makers of polyvinyl chloride, reports profits down 26. 1 percent, from Y17. 6 bn to Yl 3 ba Sales increased 0. 2 per cent from Y275 bn to Y276 bn.
Net profits fell 26. 6 per cent to Y7. 08 bn, or Y21. 85 bn per share.
The group maintained the final dividend at of Y3. 75bn, making the full-year pay out Y7. 5 bn per share. Shin-Etsu forecasts pre-tax profits for the current year of Y15. 5 bn on sales of Y277 bn.
The outlook for the petrochemicals industry remains bleak. The imbalance between supply and demand for ethylene, the basic building block of petrochemicals, is about 2. 8 m tonnes of ethylene and is set to deteriorate further this year.
A massive 700,000-tonne-a-year ethylene complex owned by Maruzen, Mitsui Petrochemical and
Sumitomo Chemical comes on stream later this year and Mitsubishi Petrochemical is also commissioning a new 300,000 tonne-a-year plant this year.
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Now listen to the recording again.
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That is the end of Part Three.
You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to your Answer Sheet.
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