Jun 13 2007
The Carbon Company – is building a third major production line for carbon fibers at its location in Inverness/ Scotland as part of its long-term growth strategy in its Business Unit "Carbon Fibers & Composites". With commissioning by end of 2008, the annual production of carbon fibers will rise to a total of 4,500 t at the Inverness plant. Furthermore, the SGL Group is also operating a further carbon fiber production facility in Wyoming/US with an annual capacity of around 1,000 t together with the US company Aldila Inc.
All capacity either under construction or currently in place is largely utilized due to long-term supply agreements with major customers until into the next decade. In order to meet strong customer demand from the wind energy industry in particular, the Company is also planning a carbon fiber location in Germany with a capacity of between 3,000 and 6,000 t p.a over the next five years. As a consequence, the SGL Group will become one of the world's leading suppliers of carbon fibers for wind energy.
The supply of raw materials for all new capacity has been secured by the strategic cooperation with Mitsubishi Rayon Corp. and the joint venture agreed with Lenzing AG in March 2007, which provides for the achieved strategic backward integration for the production of carbon fiber precursor material.