Expansions: Toray breaks ground on carbon fibre facility in South Korea; Arkema doubles UV/LED curing resins' capacity in China

Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc. (TAK), the South Korean subsidiary of Japanese firm Toray Group, recently broke ground on its new facility for carbon fibre production in Gumi, South Korea. The new facility, which is TAK’s third unit for carbon fibre production, will increase the annual manufacturing capacity in Korea by 3,300 tonnes to 8,000 tonnes.

Carbon fibre is used to make various products like high-pressure vessels for hydrogen, aircraft parts, racing car bodies, and golf club shafts.

TAK produces special materials like films for industrial applications, carbon fibres, water treatment filters, and resin chemicals. It began operating the first unit of carbon fibre production in 2013.

The company expects the demand for carbon fibre to grow, enabling lightweight hydrogen vehicles and aircraft, thus reducing carbon emissions.

Established in 1972, TAK has invested more than US$1 billion in manufacturing materials like engineering plastics, wallpapers, and car dash pads.

In November 2019, the Korea Toray R&D Centre was established in the Magok district of Seoul to advance development of next-generation technology. The headquarter functions of TAK have also been relocated here, and the marketing and R&D functions have been consolidated.

In other news, French chemical firm Arkema has begun production of Sartomer specialty UV/LED curing resins at its expanded facility in Nansha, China, where the group invested to double the capacity, as announced end-2021. This will support the development of more sustainable solutions for fast-growing applications in Asian markets, such as cutting-edge solutions in electronics, driven by 5G technology, and in renewable energies.

The Nansha capacity expansion leverages the most recent process and manufacturing standards. The whole plant has an energy efficiency program, and aims at carbon neutral growth through green electricity purchasing and the installation of solar panels.

“Doubling the capacity of the Nansha plant will allow us to support the growth, innovation and regional supply of our customers in Asia. The accelerating need for lower carbon solutions is creating new opportunities for the UV/LED curing technology, which is expanding fast to a wider range of substrates and applications” said Richard Jenkins, Senior Vice-President of Arkema’s Coating Solutions.

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