DIC Corporation 's pigment member successfully tested an engineering process to extract natural ultramarine blue from lapis lazuli.

Established in 1908 as a manufacturer of printing inks, DIC has expanded its mainstay organic pigments and synthetic resins businesses while at the same time cultivating world-class related core technologies. Since then, DIC has leveraged these technologies to build a broad portfolio encompassing materials and finished products. This has enabled the Company to respond to market needs by providing customers in the automotive, electronics, food packaging, housing and other industries with solutions that bring “color” and “comfort” to people’s lives. Widely known as a chemical manufacturer, DIC operates globally in over 60 countries and regions. A global leader in printing inks, organic pigments, and high-performance resins, DIC Group companies deliver Color & Comfort through various products and services. DIC was one of the first Japanese printing ink manufacturers to establish a presence in other parts of Asia. In 1986, Sun Chemical Corp., a leading manufacturer of printing inks, joined the DIC Group. Since then, additional acquisition-including the Coates Group (the inks division of France's Totalfina S.A.) in 1999- have reinforced DIC's position as one of the world's preeminent fine chemicals companies. At present, DIC is focusing its expansion efforts on promising growth markets in Asia, notably the People's Republic of China (PRC), to strengthen core businesses, and is also establishing a presence in such emerging markets as Central and Eastern Europe, South America and the Middle East.