Toray to Build New Polyphenylene Sulfide Resin Facility in Hungary

Toray Industries Inc has decided to construct a new polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) compound production facility at Hungarian site of its US subsidiary Zoltek Companies Inc, the world’s largest supplier of large tow carbon fibres.

It is Toray’s first resin compound production facility in Europe and is expected to start operations in March 2018 with 3,000 tonnes annual production capacity.

PPS resins are high-performance materials, superior in heat and chemical resistance, mechanical strength and inherently flame retardant. They are used in automotive electrical and powertrain components. Europe, in particular, has strict regulations regarding fuel usage and emissions as well as vehicle safety and European automotive suppliers are increasingly using PPS resins in automotive powertrain and sensor applications to reduced part weight and to enable safety improvements. The PPS market in Europe has been rapidly expanding in these growing automotive applications as well as in growing industrial applications.

With this establishment, Toray will have eight PPS compound manufacturing locations in six countries: Japan, China (Shenzhen, Suzhou and Chengdu), the Republic of Korea, Thailand, US and Hungary.

Moreover, the Toray PPS organizations in these six countries will collaborate to continuously improve customer satisfaction from multiple regional sources of supply and to offer advanced services and development to meet customer needs locally. Local production of commercial and prototype products will strengthen Toray’s supply network in Europe and accelerate evaluation of PPS resins for new markets.

Toray is promoting “Expansion and Advancement of Global Business” as one of the basic strategies in its medium-term management program “Project AP-G 2019”. The establishment of the PPS resin compound production facility in Europe is part of this strategy. It is positioned at the core of expanding Toray resin business in Europe and underscores the company’s determination to further solidify its position as the world’s No. 1 PPS supplier.