Teijin to build GF-SMC moulding in Czech Republic

Japanese chemical firm Teijin Limited says that it will install a composite compression moulding line at Benet Automotive s.r.o, the company’s automotive composites business in Milovice, Czech Republic. Teijin will invest some EUR10 million in the new glass fibre sheet moulding compound (GF-SMC) line, which will begin operating in autumn 2022 to help meet strong demand for its composite formulations in Europe.

Headquartered in Mlada Boleslav, Benet Automotive is a Tier 1 supplier of automotive composite components. The company is noted for its advanced technologies related to carbon fibre-reinforced plastic moulding as well as its capabilities in vehicle painting and assembly.

The new GF-SMC molding line will strengthen Teijin’s response to market demands for greater design freedom, productivity and cost efficiency as well as weight reduction and strength. Benet Automotive has already received new orders from European and American automobile manufacturers for automotive components to be produced by the new line.

Amid the ongoing shift toward Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric (CASE) automobiles, the automotive industry is urgently modifying its business models for lightweight, multifunctional next-generation vehicles. Teijin acquired Continental Structural Plastics Holdings Corporation (CSP) in 2017 to become a Tier 1 supplier of multi-material automotive composites.

Teijin later acquired leading automotive- composite suppliers Inapal Plásticos SA in Portugal and Benet Automotive in the Czech Republic, and now plans to build a new GF-SMC compound plant geographically in between these two suppliers at CSP's facility in Pouancé, France. In addition, it established Teijin Automotive Center Europe GmbH in Wuppertal, Germany, in 2020 as a new base for research and development within the company's multi-material automotive composite business.

Going forward, Teijin adds it will meet the demands of the global automotive market, targeting automotive composite business sales of approximately EUR1.7 billion by 2030.

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