Japan’s Toray to spend $366 mn on Korean capacity expansion

Japan’s Toray Industries Inc., the leading global carbon textile manufacturer, plans to spend 500 billion won ($366.3 million) to expand eco-friendly materials production capacity in South Korea to seek new growth drivers through high-end products amid the recent slowdown in the petrochemical industry.

Toray Industries and its wholly owned subsidiary Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc. on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding for the investment in Seoul with the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and regional governments.

“We will keep expanding the high-tech materials business, focusing on eco-friendly and high-performance products to create new value in the rapidly changing materials industry,” said Toray Advanced Materials Korea CEO Kim Young-Seop in a statement.

TO RAMP UP CARBON FIBER, ARAMID FIBER CAPACITY

Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to increase its carbon fiber production capacity at its plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) Southeast of Seoul, to 8,000 tons a year from the current 4,700 tons.

With the expansion, South Korea is expected to account for 11.4% of Toray Industries’ annual global carbon fiber output of 70,000 tons.

Carbon fiber composites are significantly lighter than steel and have a tensile strength of up to 10 times that of steel, making them ideal for the aerospace and wind power industries, which require high strength at low weight.

Toray Advanced Materials Korea is also poised to raise aramid fiber output capacity at the Gumi factory to 5,000 tons a year from the current 3,000 tons.

Aramid fiber, a class of heat-resistance and strong synthetic fiber, is used in electric vehicle traction motors, heat-resistant clothes, extra high voltage transformers and others.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.