Teijin to accelerate global carbon fiber business through new U.S. subsidiary

Teijin Limited announced today that it will establish new carbon-fiber production facility in the U.S. city of Greenwood, South Carolina, and Teijin Carbon Fibers, Inc. (TCF), a wholly owned subsidiary. TCF is expected to be incorporated this December and begin operating its new carbon-fiber production facility by the end of FY 2020.

Also, Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., the core company of Teijin's carbon fibers business, announced today that it will expand the capacity of a specialized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor for carbon fiber in its Mishima Factory.

Based on 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, 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. Teijin, aiming to be an enterprise that supports the society of the future, is evolving its carbon-fiber and other businesses under a long-term vision.

Total investments of new carbon fiber production facility in the U.S. and precursor capacity expansion in Japan will amount to JPY 35 billion, or approximately USD 320 million.

Precursor, the material that Toho Tenax will expand production by increasing the capacity of its Mishima Factory, is oxidized at 200-300 degrees centigrade and carbonized at 1,000-2,000 degrees centigrade in an oxygen-free environment and made into carbon fiber.