According to the latest news released on March 13 by Plasteurope website, Hyosung Advanced Materials, a carbon fiber subsidiary of South Korean industrial group Hyosung, has not changed its carbon fiber expansion plan. However, it has altered the location of the factory expansion. The newly added carbon fiber capacity will no longer be limited to the Jeonju factory in South Korea, but will be extended to major customer markets in China and Vietnam.
Through large-scale expansion, the Hyosung Company is attempting to keep pace with the global leaders in carbon fiber.
South Korea's Hyosung aims to have a carbon fiber annual production capacity of 24,000 tons by 2028, which is nearly three times the current annual capacity of South Korea and China, which stands at 9,000 tons. At the recent JEC Composites Show, a spokesperson confirmed to Plasture.com that there are plans to build two production lines in China with an annual output of 5,000 tons each, but did not specify the exact locations. However, the Hyosung Chemical Fiber Base located in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, could be a potential site.
The spokesperson explained that by 2025, the company will construct a carbon fiber production facility of similar scale near Ho Chi Minh City on the south coast of Vietnam, with the remaining annual capacity of 5,000 tons likely to continue being designated for Jeonju. According to the company, a significant proportion of the additional capacity seems to be earmarked for hydrogen tanks, whose manufacturers may also be the driving force behind the expansion. Currently, 70% of Hyosung's carbon fiber is exported to Europe and North America.
South Korea's Hyosung Expands Carbon Fiber Business in China
On November 24, 2022, Xiaoxing Carbon Materials (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea's Xiaoxing Company. The company is registered in Xinyi Economic Development Zone, No. 1 Hong Kong Road, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, with a registered capital of 29 million US dollars.
On February 3, 2023, the "Pre-examination and Site Selection Opinion Letter for the Annual Production of 26,400 Tons of Carbon Materials Project by Xiaoxing Carbon Materials (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd." was publicly displayed on the website of the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Xinyi, Xuzhou. According to the public display, the project construction unit is Xiaoxing Carbon Materials (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. The total land area for the annual production of 26,400 tons of carbon materials project is 19.8159 hectares, of which 8.7197 hectares are for construction.
On February 18, 2023, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Xiaoxing High-Performance Carbon Fiber Xinyi Industrial Base was held. The project is invested and constructed by Xiaoxing Carbon Materials (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. The content of the project construction is the annual production of 26,400 tons of carbon materials, with a total land area of 19.8159 hectares, of which 8.7197 hectares are for construction. It has been determined that upon completion and reaching full production capacity, the project is expected to annually produce 9,600 tons of high-performance carbon fibers and 16,800 tons of carbon fiber composite materials, achieving an annual sales revenue of over 10 billion yuan.
February 18, 2023, South Korea's Tae-Sung Carbon Fiber Xinyi Industrial Base Construction Started
On January 27, 2024, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tae-Xing High Performance Carbon Fiber Xinyi Industrial Base Project in South Korea was held. The official launch of this project marks a new step in the development of Xuzhou's "343" innovation industrial cluster. The project is invested and constructed by the South Korean Tae-Xing Group and represents an important part of the group's global carbon fiber market strategy.
South Korea's Hyosung Plans 10,000-Ton Carbon Fiber Capacity in Vietnam
During the 54th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland, the Vice Chairman of the South Korean Tae-Xing Group, which has already invested $3.5 billion in Vietnam, stated that the company plans to invest an additional $2 billion this year. This investment includes a carbon fiber project planned by the company in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau in Vietnam.
Tae-Xing Vietnam Co., Ltd. was established in May 2007 and has since invested in the production of tire cord, spandex, steel cord, technical yarns, nylon, polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG), and electrical machinery. According to the financial statements of its parent company, this Vietnamese subsidiary reported revenues of 1231 billion Korean won ($1.65 billion) and profits of 2140 billion Korean won ($943.5 million) in 2022. Tae-Xing's investments in Vietnam include $1.9 billion in Dong Nai province, $1.4 billion in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau, $200 million in Quang Nam province in the central region, and $100 million in Bac Ninh province in the north.
In July 2023, the company announced plans to invest $1 billion in building a carbon fiber factory in the Fu Mei Er Industrial Park in Bati Toutou Province. In October 2023, the company received tentative approval from the Bati Toutou Industrial Park Authority to spend $540 million on constructing a carbon fiber factory covering an area of 19.2 hectares. The factory's initial phase is planned with an annual production capacity of 4,800 tons and is scheduled to commence operations in February 2025. The second and third phases of the project are set to begin in December 2028 and December 2031, respectively, with each phase adding an additional capacity of 7,200 tons and 9,600 tons, bringing the total planned capacity for all three phases to 21,600 tons.