★Top 10 Popular Themes

1. Storage Batteries

2. Defense

3. Rare Earths

4. Semiconductors

5. Regional Banks

6. TOPIX Core 30

7. Fertilizers

8. Drones

9. Perovskite Solar Cells

10. JPX-Nikkei 400

The "Seawater Desalination" theme ranked 25th in the "Popular Theme Ranking" compiled by Minkabu and Kabutan.

Seawater desalination technology, which converts seawater into fresh water, has been attracting attention in the stock market. Gulf countries in the Middle East, located in desert regions, have limited water sources such as rivers and depend heavily on seawater desalination for drinking water. In relation to the Iran conflict, the Bahraini government announced that Iran conducted a drone attack on the country's desalination facilities. Iran also disclosed that U.S. forces attacked its desalination facilities.

Maintaining seawater desalination facilities, which are critical infrastructure in the Middle East, has become a major challenge, and demand for seawater desalination-related projects is expected to emerge in the region's future reconstruction. Japanese companies have a strong track record in seawater desalination, and a reevaluation trend is emerging among related companies. In reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, which filter out salt and impurities, TORAY INDUSTRIES <3402>, NITTO DENKO <6988>, and TOYOBO <3101> hold top positions in global market share. Additionally, Kanadevia <7004> operates seawater desalination plants, while Torishima Pump Mfg <6363> and EBARA <6361> have proven track records with pumps used in seawater desalination. JGC HOLDINGS <1963>, Mitsubishi <8058>, and Marubeni <8002> are also engaged in seawater desalination plant projects.

Source: MINKABU PRESS