Capacity Expansion of Carbon Fiber TENAX

Tue, 16 October 2007

Toho Tenax Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, President: Yoshikuni Utsunomiya), which is engaged in the business of carbon fibers within the Teijin Group, has decided to add a new carbon fiber production line at Toho Tenax Europe GmbH (located at Wuppertal, Germany. Hereinafter referred to as "TTE"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., with a target operation start-up date of August 2009.

Carbon fiber is a highly functional, strong, and flexible fiber with a diverse range of applications in aerospace and other industries in general, as well as in the sport and leisure industries, and is one of the Teijin Group's core materials.

Demand for this product is expected to grow at a rate of about 15% between 2005 and 2010 as applications for civil aircraft and industries increase. Demand in 2010 is anticipated to exceed 40,000 tons.

With this announced increase in production capacity and capacity from lines that are currently under construction, the Teijin Group's carbon fiber production capacity is scheduled to reach 13,500 tons per year.