Netherlands-based Teijin Limited is setting up a new facility in Ayutthaya Province, Thailand, where it will produce a new type of meta-aramid fibre, said to offer the world’s highest level of heat resistance combined with excellent dyeablility. It is investing US$45 million in the facility, with construction to begin this December and production scheduled from July 2015. The newly developed fibre will strengthen the Japanese Teijin group’s global presence in the protective apparel market, where demand for high-performance materials is increasing.. When completed, the plant will nearly double the annual capacity of Teijin’s global meta-aramid fibre production.

New production technologies developed by Teijin enable the new meta-aramid fibre to achieve unsurpassed heat resistance and excellent dyeablity, providing customers with more diversified solutions for the design and manufacture of protective apparel.

“We have supported the global market for protective apparel over decades with our high-performance materials, such as Teijinconex meta-aramid, Twaron and Technora para-aramid, Pyromex flame-resistant fiber and since recently with Endumax high-performance polyethylene,” said Masaya Endo, Teijin group executive officer and general manager of Teijin’s high-performance fibers business unit. “The new type of meta-aramid fiber strengthens Teijin’s competitiveness in the emerging economies and Asia, where the demand for heat-proof and flame-retardant high-performance materials is growing due to increasing safety regulations, and in North America and Europe, where the demand is high for advanced solutions that combine comfort and maneuverability with high protection.”

The Teijin group, a world leader in ultra-high performance materials, will continue to strengthen capabilities in growing markets for protective apparel. The efforts will among others be supported by collaboration among the group’s Research Center in Osaka, Japan, Development Lab in Wuppertal, Germany, Research Center in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Technical Center Asia in Shanghai, China as well as the Iwakuni and the Matsuyama plants in Japan, the Emmen plant in the Netherlands and in the foreseeable future the new plant in Thailand.