10 January 2017
DETAILS
decided to acquire
SGL Carbon Fibers LLC
in order to expand its carbon fibers business
in the North American market.
MRC’s 100% subsidiary
Mitsubishi Rayon Carbon Fiber and Composites
plans to acquire all the shares
of the said fiber production company
from its present parent company
SGL Technologies North America,
incorporating it into
MRCFAC,
by the beginning of April, 2017.
MRC has developed
“high-performance large tow,”
a unique carbon fiber that
supports high productivity
in the molding of large components
whilst exhibiting the physical and quality properties
equivalent to regular-tow carbon fibers.
It has been cultivating applications in fields such as
* the aircraft industry and
* compressed gas tanks
since the launch of operation
in its Otake Production Center in July 2011.
Given the increasing demand for large tow
especially for application in
* wind turbine blades,
MRC has been strengthening its business operation
in this area having founded
a joint venture manufacturing and distributing
carbon fiber composite laminates
for wind turbine blades in October last year.
Furthermore, inquiries for various intermediary materials
using high-performance large tow
in light-weighted materials for
* automobiles is increasing.
As a result, the utilization rate of MRC’s production facilities
has remained high. MRC decided to
acquire SCF
to increase its carbon fiber capacity
in order to meet
the growing demand for large tow.
This addition will increase
MRC’s carbon fiber production capacity by 1,000 tons.
Combined with
* the expansion of capacity of
regular-tow carbon fiber
at MRCFAC’s plant in Sacramento in the U.S.,
commercial operation of which will commence shortly,
and
* the expansion of production capacity at
MRC’s Otake Production Center scheduled in 2017,
MRC’s carbon fiber production capacity
will increase from 10,100 tons per year
to 14,300 tons within 2017.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
