Teijin Ltd a supplier of carbon fiber used in the Airbus SAS superjumbo jet, is considering plans to expand output in the US to meet demand for the lightweight material in cars and storage tanks for natural gas.
Executive Vice President Mr Norio Kamei said in an interview in Tokyo said that Teijin plans to increase its global output by about 36% to 18,900 metric tons a year by 2016,. It may expand its Tennessee factory or build a plant with a 5,000-ton production capacity, he said, declining to give a cost.
Mr kamei said that Teijin and its larger domestic rival Toray Industries Inc are pushing sales in North America where the boom in extracting natural gas from shale rock is jacking up demand for the fiber used to wrap storage tanks to increase strength. It’s used in Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus LFA sports car and Teijin is working with General Motors Co on technology that cuts carbon fiber molding time and costs to enable mass production, Kamei said.
He said that “Carbon fiber will play a bigger role in manufacturing to cut weight and conserve energy as we move toward a low-carbon society. We expect the auto industry to be a bigger customer from 2015 onward.”
Toray, the world’s top supplier of carbon fiber, will use its South Korean plant, slated to open next year, as a base to ship the material to the US, President Akihiro Nikkaku told reporters in Tokyo on Nov. 21. It holds an 80% share of the market for strengthening gas tanks.
