Iwao Iwanaga
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University in March 1926 and joined Toyo Rayon, becoming a Director in August 1947, Managing Director in July 1948 and Representative Director and Executive Vice President in March 1960. He became President of Mitsui Petrochemical Industries in November 1963, also serving as President of Mitsui Polychemicals at the same time. A mechanical engineer who had handled synthetic fiber equipment moved from a parent with no petrochemical operations of its own to a basic chemicals company.
Selection
In November 1963 he became President, succeeding Kizo Yasui. Like his predecessor, he was a President brought in from another Mitsui-affiliated company, having served as Representative Director and Executive Vice President of Toyo Rayon since March 1960. Mitsui Petrochemical Industries had only just listed on the Second Sections of the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges in October 1962, and had a plan to build a new plant on reclaimed land at Goi-Anegasaki in Chiba Prefecture. The change appears to have installed a mechanical engineer from an investing company for the stage of building plants.
Initiatives
His tenure lasted six years, from November 1963 to November 1969. In 1965 the company was reassigned to the First Sections of the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges, and in March 1967 the Chiba Works began operating. Its ethylene capacity of 120,000 tons a year was the largest in Japan at the time and among the largest in the world. In November of that year the company established Ukishima Petrochemical as a 50-50 joint venture with Nippon Petrochemicals, a structure in which it did not shoulder capacity expansion alone. He served as chairman of the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association from July 1966 to February 1968.
Career
Career
Toyo Rayon
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Director |
| 1948 | Managing Director |
| 1960 | Executive Vice President |
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1963 | President |
| Nov 1969 | Chairman |
| Nov 1969 | Stepped down as President |