Toray to spend Y55bn on carbon fibre expansions

09 February 2007 08:21  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Toray Industries planned to spend yen (Y) 55bn ($454.5m) to increase its carbon fibre capacities in Japan, the US and France by end-2008 in respond to growing demand, the Japanese fibres and textiles major said on Friday.

Its total polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibre capacity will reach 17,900 tonnes/year, up from the current 13,100 tonnes/year, the company said in a statement, adding that the material was primarily used in airplanes.

With additional carbon fibre capacities, the company aimed to improve its supply system for the production of Boeing 787 scheduled to start service in 2008, as well as respond to new demand for sports-related and general industrial applications, Toray said.

In Ehime prefecture, Japan, the company will build a 400 tonne/year carbon fibre unit, boosting its total capacity to 7,300 tonnes/year by January 2008, it said.

US subsidiary Toray Carbon Fibers America will increase the capacity of its plant in Alabama to 5,400 tonnes/year by December 2008 from 3,600 tonnes/year.

The capacity at French joint venture Societe des Fibres Carbone (Soficar) in Abidos will reach 3,400 tonnes/year from 2,600 tonnes/year by August 2007. This would increased to 5,200 tonnes/year by December 2008.

Toray said that it would also add a carbon fibre filament production, raw material of PAN-based carbon fibre, at Alabama. It did not give any capacity figures for this.

It also planned to build a new unit producing 5.8m square meters/year of prepreg, carbon fibre sheets impregnated with resin, at its factory in Nomi, Ishikawa prefecture, by January 2009, Toray said.

The prepreg capacity at Tacoma, Washington, operated by Toray Composites (America), will increase to 17.2m square meters/year from 11.4m square meters/year by August 2007.

The world’s demand for PAN-based carbon fibre was estimated at 27,000 tonnes/year in 2006, and it was expected to continue growing at about 15% a year, Toray said.

The company estimated the world’s demand would reach 45,500 tonnes/year by 2010 partly due to an expected widespread use of the product in cars, it said.

Toray planned to further increase its carbon fibre capacity to 24,000 tonnes/year by 2010, it added.

The company also hoped to increase the share for global sales to 40% from the current 34% and targeted consolidated carbon fibre net sales at Y160bn by 2010.

($1=Y121)

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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