China's carbon fiber is developing new technologies for high-strength and high-modulus carbon fiber
On September 6, "Financial Online" released an interview with Mitsuo Ohya, president of Japan's Toray Industries, which introduced the development of Toray's carbon fiber business and global status, and discussed that as China's carbon fiber has caught up in recent years, the company has always had certain advantages in the field of technology. Regarding the development of the carbon fiber terminal market, Toray President Mitsuo Ohya pointed out that due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the carbon fiber business was in trouble, but now carbon fiber is back on track.
Toray President Mitsuo Ohya was born in 1956. He joined Toray after 1980. He became general manager of the textile division in 2002 and was appointed director in 2012. He became president of Toray International in 2014. After serving as Toray's senior managing director in 2016 and vice president in 2020, he was appointed president in June last year.
Toray's carbon fiber business resumes double-digit growth in 2024
Mitsuo Ohya pointed out that global carbon fiber demand in fiscal 2023 will decline compared with 2022, mainly because wind turbine blades, which had been expanding in demand, stagnated due to rising interest rates and falling electricity prices, while demand for sports equipment such as golf and bicycles increased rapidly due to the coronavirus, and pressure vessels mainly used for natural gas had to be adjusted due to the war.
However, in fiscal 2024, Toray's carbon fiber business saw double-digit growth again and is expanding further, especially in the aerospace field, mainly due to the increasing demand for lightweight aircraft to improve their environmental performance and for next-generation aircraft.
Toray predicts that the hydrogen business will begin to grow after 2026. Using carbon fiber as a material for hydrogen storage tanks to transport hydrogen is a must. By 2030, hydrogen-related sales are expected to quadruple from 2025. In addition, the number of carbon fiber blades for offshore wind power generation is expected to increase 1.3 times in 2030 compared to 2025, and the number of "flying cars" launched in the future is expected to increase 10 times.
China's carbon fiber is catching up
Toray has been developing carbon fiber materials since the early 1960s and first commercialized them in 1971. In 2011, an aircraft that completely used Toray's carbon fiber as the main structural material took its first flight, which took 40 years. Before that, Toray had been committed to continuing its business by working hard to expand demand for sports equipment such as golf, fishing rods and bicycles, as well as various industrial applications.
Mitsuo Oya believes that Toray's pursuit of extreme technology has always kept it in the leading position in the field of carbon fiber. At present, Toray has commercialized this material globally together with Mitsubishi Rayon (now Mitsubishi Chemical) and Teijin, among which Toray has the highest market share in the global carbon fiber field. Although Chinese companies are catching up, Japan's Toray Corporation is still continuing to develop new technologies for high-strength and high-modulus carbon fibers. The most iconic product is carbon fiber for aircraft (such as the latest T1200 carbon fiber). The company's advantage lies in its technical capabilities and its ability to continuously launch high-end products that ensure safety. The development of new products and technologies is ongoing.
Toray Carbon Fibers Have Experienced Two Losses in the Past Two Decades
Mitsuo Oya pointed out that since 2003, Toray's carbon fiber has only suffered losses twice: during the 2009 economic crisis and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. From the beginning of the development of carbon fiber, the company has set its sights on aircraft, but the company will also develop terminal applications that match carbon fiber based on marketing, such as the sports applications mentioned above. Mitsuo Oya joined the company in 1980, when it was experiencing some difficult times, including the decline of the synthetic fiber industry. Even so, the company continued to develop technology. During the decline of synthetic fibers, as companies turned to non-textile products and non-fiber products, Toray's management focused on how to shift non-textile businesses to growth areas. However, unlike other companies, Toray has no intention of "giving up textiles". Instead, the company has a DNA of working until profitability and a culture that encourages acceptance of various challenges, and related research is also conducted in a free and open atmosphere.
The most representative technology developed by the company is "nano design", a manufacturing technology that only Toray has in the world. It can freely design the cross-section of fibers and combine several polymers to give new functions.
