Toray Expands Carbon Fiber

Toray Industries will spend $540 million to expand its carbon fiber production facilities worldwide as a big customer, Boeing, ramps up production of its 787 aircraft. This expansion program will add 6,000 metric tons to Toray’s global production capacity for carbon fiber by 2015. Over half of the total investment will be made in Japan. The company will also expand its plants in the U.S., France, and South Korea. In France, it will build a 1,000-metric-ton facility to locally produce precursor material that Toray now supplies from Japan. Including previously announced expansion projects, Toray’s total capacity for carbon fiber will reach 27,000 metric tons in 2015. Global demand was 37,000 metric tons in 2011 and is increasing 15% annually, Toray says.