Teijin Limited will establish new carbon fiber plant in Greenwood, South Carolina (U.S.), and Teijin Carbon Fibers, Inc. (TCF) as a wholly owned subsidiary for managing its business.
TCF is to be incorporated this December, and the new carbon fiber plant is expected to commence operations by the end of FY2020.
Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., the core company of Teijin’s carbon fibers business, will also expand its capacity for specialized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor for carbon fiber at the Mishima Factory.
With these two developments, the Teijin Group aims to strengthen its upstream-to-downstream carbon fiber business as well as accelerate global expansion through its trilateral hubs in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. In particular, the company has been leveraging research and development to expand carbon fiber business in the aircraft and automotive fields, focusing on helping companies reduce their environmental footprints to satisfy tightening environmental regulations worldwide.
Total investments in the new carbon fiber plant in the U.S. and precursor capacity expansion in Japan will amount to 35 billion yen (approximately US$320 million).
Precursor, the material that Toho Tenax will expand production by increasing the capacity of its Mishima Factory, is oxidized at 200-300°C and carbonized at 1,000-2,000°C in an oxygen-free environment and made into carbon fiber.