Hyosung announces growth plans for carbon fiber business

 

Hyosung (Seoul, South Korea) has announced its plans to increase its annual output of carbon fiber from 2,000 to 24,000 tons by 2028, with a total investment of 1 trillion won (more than $835 million). The company plans to increase its production capacity from one production line to 10 lines.

With the first expansion underway, the company says it will complete a carbon fiber plant with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons in January 2020 and begin full-scale production in February.

Hyosung says that by 2028, the added capacity will bring its market share in carbon fiber up from 2% to 10%, making it the third highest producer of carbon fiber globally. The company also expects to add more than 2,300 new jobs.

The investment announcement was made at an event on Aug. 20 between Hyosung and local government and municipal representatives at its Jeonju, South Korea plant. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Iljin Materials and Korea Aerospace Industries.

Hyosung also plans to support the growth of hydrogen-powered vehicles, and says it intends to expand the number of hydrogen-powered cars from around 1,800 in 2018 to about 81,000 by 2022 and 6.2 million by 2040. Carbon fiber is used in the fuel tanks of hydrogen vehicles, and Hyosung says the carbon fiber market for these tanks is expected to grow more than 120 times by 2030.

“We took note of the future value of carbon fiber and started to develop our own technology,” says Hyun-Joon Cho, chairman of Hyosung. “The potential for the upstream industry of carbon fiber is limitless. As the hydrogen economy has opened a new market of carbon fiber, we will play a pivotal role in making Korea a ‘material powerhouse’.”