Sluggish market conditions and the deterioration of the demand and supply equation has forced the company to identify key areas of growth. The first priority would be to strengthen the supply chain for commodity chemicals, an area in which large-scale investments have been made in competitive feed stocks and increase in transactions and profits through aggressive investments in speciality chemicals and improve asset quality by realigning the group's portfolio.

According to Fujji, "speciality chemicals are driven by global transformation such as mergers and acquisitions. We are relocating business resources to this area including business investments and corporate takeovers to expand earnings. Pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates, raw materials for speciality chemicals, food additives and electronics materials are the main focus areas". Fujji added that the company's need to restructure has arisen as the area has substantial growth potential. Rapid transformations are taking place in speciality chemicals as European and US diversified chemicals companies are trying to restructure their portfolios through mergers and acquisitions.

This extensive global realignment is forcing Japanese players also to revamp and Mitsubishi plans to reallocate funds to speciality chemicals. The company will also leverage on financial functions including business investments and corporate takeovers to expand its earnings.

"India would be one of the main markets for growth since we have a faith in the economy. Even when other the Asian economies tumbled, Indian business prospects remained encouraging", Fujii said. Mitsubishi has six main operations-information systems, fuels, metals, machinery and chemicals-in India.