Toray commissions carbon fibre raw material plant in France

Toray Carbon Fibers Europe SA (CFE), a subsidiary of Japanese chemical company Toray Industries Inc, has inaugurated a carbon fibre raw material (precursor) plant at Lacq plant in France. The completed precursor plant is part of Toray Group's investment plan announced in March 2012 to expand carbon fibre production capacity at its four global production sites in Japan, US, France and South Korea.
 
The new CFE plant is the third precursor production base at the Group following Japan and the US. It enables Toray Carbon Fibers Europe to move on to an integrated production, switching to precursor produced at its own plant from the material imported from Japan, which will boost its cost competitiveness. CFE will also supply various Toray Group production bases including Toray Advanced Material Korea Inc, contributing to the group-wide business expansion.
 
The worldwide demand for PAN-based carbon fibres expanded to exceed about 40,000 tonne in 2013 and is expected to continue to grow at a rate exceeding 15% a year. In addition to the high performance regular tow carbon fibre Torayca, Toray in February 2014 acquired Zoltek Companies Inc and made a full entry into the large tow carbon fibre business, enabling it to respond to growing demand by supplying products that meet various market needs. Toray Group aims to further expand its carbon fibre composite material business through active investment of management resources as one of the businesses supporting the growth strategy under the medium-term management program Project AP-G 2016.