History The history of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. (APNA) is the product of two very unique and successful companies, Thermofil, Inc. and Asahi KASEI Corporation. Thermofil was founded in 1967 as a manufacturer of high performance, reinforced thermoplastics for the automotive industry. The total domestic market for reinforced thermoplastics in 1967 was less than 50 million pounds. Today the demand exceeds 1 billion pounds. Specialty reinforced thermoplastics continue to be the fastest growing portion of the plastics industry. In January 2000, Thermofil merged with Asahi KASEI and became known as Asahi Thermofil, Inc. The name of the company, Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. (APNA) became official September 1, 2005. APNA is recognized as one of the leading producers of high performance engineered thermoplastics and the leader in glass-coupled polypropylene. Customers benefit from the synergy of our multicultural organization, and the insight and experience gained by working with a variety of materials in a multitude of markets and applications around the world. Asahi KASEI Corporation is a global company that has over 13.7 billion dollars in annual sales and nearly 30,000 Team Members worldwide. Asahi KASEI provides innovative solutions based in chemistry and materials science to a diverse range of markets including fibers, chemicals, consumer products, housing, construction, electronics, and health care. There are seven wholly owned constituent corporations that run as independent operating business units. Asahi KASEI as the parent company, functions as a holding company for these group operations. APNA, a subsidiary of the Asahi KASEI Chemicals Co. division, is one of the leading producers of high performance reinforced engineered thermoplastics and the leader in glass-coupled polypropylene. Asahi KASEI Chemicals Corporation has plants in Thailand, China and Japan.