Carbon Fibre - World Production controlled by Japanese companies

Global demand for poly acryloniytrile (PAN) carbon fiber is estimated at 25,000 tons. Demand will grow to 40,000 tons by 2010. It's characteristics of lightness and strength will determine the succes of the new generation of passenger airliners the Boeing 787 and the Airbus 380.

Three Japanese companies, Toray Industries Inc., Toho Tenax Co. and Mitsubishi Rayon Co. together control about 70 percent of the global market for carbon fibre.Current uptake is in the region of 26,000 tons and will grow to 40,000 tons by 2010.The fibre is increasingly in use in the blades of wind driven electricity turbines.

Industry leader Toray, with 30% of world production, is the principal supplier of Torayca* fibre for Boeing Co.'s B787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft which will require about 30 tons of carbon fibre per aircraft (the Boeing 777 uses Toray fibre).The company opened the worlds biggest facility in Decatur, Alabama in 1999 which recently introduced a new line to double capacity to 1,800 tons per year.

By volume, carbon fiber composite materials account for about 50 percent of the B787,
including the fuselage and main wings. Toray is adding new production lines on its 860,000-square-meter factory in Masaki, Ehime Prefecture to meet this demand.

In total the company is investing about 25 billion yen on three production lines, two for carbon fiber and the other for sheet products to increase capacity to 13,000 tons per annum from current 9,000 tons.


Toho Tenax, (part of the Teijin Group) the next biggest supplier is running its factory in Nagaizumi, Shizuoka Prefecture, at full capacity to produce carbon fiber mainly for Airbus SAS's A380 super-jumbo jet, which is scheduled to start commercial flights this year.

The company is expanding its factories in the United States(Rockwood TN) and Germany to raise its annual group production capacity to 7,800 tons in September, up from the current 5,600 tons.

Mitsubishi Rayon the third major world supplier is also spending 8 Billion Yen to add
capacity at its factory in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, and its plants in the United States (Grafil Inc. Sacramento CA) and France and wants to boost production to 8,000 tons up from 5,000 tons.