Toray Industries, Inc. (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as “Toray”) announced today that it has decided to enhance the production capacity of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts at Toray Carbon Magic Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Maibara-shi, Shiga Prefecture, Japan; President: Nobuya Ando; hereinafter referred to as “TCM”) and its mass production plant Carbon Magic (Thailand) Co., Ltd (headquarters: Cholburi Province, Thailand; President: Shinya Isoi; hereinafter referred to as “CMTH”). Toray plans to newly introduce production and after processing facilities such as autoclave molding, machining, and painting, which would be made operational one by one starting from the second half of 2014 through 2016.
In April 2013, Toray acquired the entire stake in Dome Carbon Magic Co., Ltd. (current TCM) from Dome Group as well as a 75% stake in Dome Composites (Thailand) Co., Ltd., its production base in Thailand, to make them its subsidiaries. Ever since coming under Toray Group, TCM's superior design technology capabilities and CMTH’s mass production cost competitiveness coupled with Toray's competitiveness in high-grade materials have led to increased acclaim and expectations from the market, and TCM has seen a rapid increase in demands for designs, creation of prototypes and mass production not only for premium cars and motorbikes in which TCM has essentially competitive edge, but also for aircrafts and trains as well as medical and nursing care devices such as wheelchairs and prosthetic legs.
In order to respond to such increasing demands and expectations from the market, TCM will construct a new building within its Maibara Plant site and enhance the prototype and small-lot production functions. Furthermore, CMTH will newly rent a 22,000 m2 plot in the Sriracha Saha Group Industrial Park, where the current plant is located, to build an integrated mass production plant covering molding to painting with an eye on future expansion.
Toray Group accelerates to develop the CFRP parts market and its applications in the automobile field and elsewhere, giving TCM a role as the core base of its advanced composite business in collaboration with overseas bases of Euro Advanced Carbon Fiber Composites GmbH (EACC) in Germany and Plasan Carbon Composites, Inc. (PCC) in the U.S. In addition, the Group has been enhancing the supply chain starting from upstream carbon fibers including large tow carbon fibers of Zoltek Companies, Inc., which it acquired in February 2014, to middle stream intermediate materials and downstream CFRP composites. Through these strategic measures, Toray Group aims to achieve significant expansion of its carbon fiber composite material business launched in the new medium-term management program “Project AP-G 2016” kicked off earlier this month.
