POPULAR TOOLS
WTiN Products
SOFICAR to become a wholly-owned Toray subsidiary
Toray has purchased the remaining shares in Société des Fibres de Carbone (SOFICAR), a French manufacturer and retailer of carbon fibres.
The company already held a 70% stake in the subsidiary, but has acquired the remaining 30% from its French business partner, Arkema. Along with the purchase, SOFICAR will be renamed Toray Carbon Fibres Europe (CFE).
Currently, SOFICAR has a carbon fibre production capacity of 5,200 tons a year. However, Toray plans to further accelerate its growth, establishing the integrated value chain of carbon fibre, Torayca and expanding the business through installing new production lines for raw material fibre (precursor) and prepreg for aircraft applications in the future.
It also plans to further expand the carbonisation capacity at the new CFE.
Toray added that global demand for polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibre in 2011 was estimated to be almost 40,000 tons, and this is expected to continue growing significantly at an annual rate exceeding 15%.
In anticipation of the expansion of the carbon fibre market, Toray said it will strive to accelerate its application developments in the fields of aerospace and sporting goods, while expanding its carbon fibre composite materials business through strengthening the production network based in its three current sites in Japan, France and the US, plus the Republic of Korea from 2013.
Originally, SOFICAR was established in 1982 as a joint venture with Elf Aquitaine (investment ratio: 35% by Toray and 65% by Elf Aquitaine). Since then, Toray increased its stake to 70% in 1988, before the final full purchase this year.
