Teijin embarks on automotive rubber business

TEIJIN Limited and Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., the Teijin Group's fibre product converting company, is  accelerating their automotive rubber materials business in Thailand by establishing Teijin FRA Tire Cord (Thailand) Co., LTD. in partnership with Ayaha Corporation, a Japanese company specialising in tyre cord production. Teijin also announced that it will expand the production capacity for automotive hose cord at a separate subsidiary, Teijin Cord (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

The Teijin Group will develop midstream business by accelerating sales to Asia’s expanding automotive industry, aiming to strengthen its local supply of automotive rubber materials, such as tyre cord and hose cord, to customers in China and the ASEAN region.

The new joint venture will be established on the premises of Teijin (Thailand) Limited located in Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate, Ayutthaya, in June. It will begin operating with a 16,000-ton annual capacity from October 2015. The company will start with capital of 380 million baht (11.7 million USD), which will be shared in the ratio of Teijin–10%, Teijin Frontier–56.66% and Ayaha–33.34%.

The new tyre cord plant will be equipped with twisting, weaving and adhesion facilities. Combining Teijin and Ayaha’s advanced processing technologies and Teijin Frontier’s converting capabilities, the plant will produce highly processed rayon, aramid and PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) tyre cords for high-performance tyres that will help meet the expanding demand for automotive fuel efficiency. It also will produce polyester and nylon tire cords for general tyres.

Future plans call for Teijin Cord (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to expand its automotive hose cord business as of April 2015. The company will increase its adhesion facility’s annual capacity by 70% at a cost of 29 million baht (US$900,000). Teijin Cord (Thailand) is located in the Rojana Industrial Park of Ayutthaya.