| April 25, 2003 |
Toray and Cargill Dow sign Master License Agreement for INGEO TM Fibers(PLA) |
| Toray Industries, Inc. and US-based Cargill Dow LLC have
today concluded a master agreement encompassing brands, technology licenses and
PLA chip supply, to manufacture and sell INGEO fiber products made from Cargill
Dow's corn-based PLA(polylactic acid). As well as being supplied with PLA chip and licensed to utilize technologies for making INGEO fiber by Cargill Dow, Toray will manufacture the fiber in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Toray will also manufacture textiles in countries around the world including Japan, other parts of Asia, and Europe. In marketing activities, Toray will sale INGEO fibers and textiles globally. Toray will be licensed to use Cargill Dow's INGEO brand, a new lifestyle concept for the PLA fiber, for items ranging from fiber and yarns to textile products, and will nurture the INGEO brand jointly with Cargill Dow by enriching the value of PLA fiber as a major fiber material that is derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources. In its "Project New TORAY 21" program comprising business reforms geared to "A New Toray for the 21st Century," Toray has located promising business areas covering the environment, safety, and amenity, and its policy is to develop these into major earnings sources by 2010. With the conclusion of the master agreement, Toray will develop its PLA fiber business on a full-scale basis and strategically expand it in the environmental business field, which is expected to exhibit substantial growth. Regarding application development, Toray initially aims to develop and market INGEO fiber products for industrial and daily use such as carpets, bedding and industrial materials, taking advantage of the fiber's superior characteristics that include bio-degradability, germ resistance, and safeness to the skin. Subsequently, Toray plans to develop the fiber to a broad range of applications including clothing and interior decoration materials, targeting an annual sales volume of 4,000 tons with sales revenue of \10 billion by 2005. As a partner company in promoting Cargill Dow's INGEO brand, Toray has already announced its intention to nurture INGEO fiber as environmentally friendly material. This master agreement will enable Toray to strengthen its business relationship with Cargill Dow. In addition, Toray is authorized to develop and use its own sub-brand "ECODEAR" in communicating Toray's products derived from PLA polymer in textile markets and consumer products markets. Toray will use "ECODEAR" together with Cargill Dow's INGEO brand and will promote these two brands concurrently. Ingeo and the Ingeo logo are trademarks of Cargill Dow LLC. |
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