Toray Composite Materials America, the leading manufacturer of advanced composites, is celebrating the commissioning of the upgraded carbon fibre production line in its Decatur, Alabama, facility. The $15 million upgrade doubles the production capacity of the TORAYCA T1100 carbon fibre and adds critical redundancy to support the rising demand for defence applications. Toray's T1100 carbon fibre is vital to several United States Department of Defence (DoD) weapons systems and the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programme.

Toray has already begun production utilising this new capability and are in the process of qualifying the new line with a number of customers. "Our team in Decatur worked tirelessly to advance the commissioning of our upgraded carbon fibre production line to support the strong demand from the defence industry. As the DoD prioritises developing a resilient supply chain as part of the NDIS, Toray's focus is to ensure that we are doing our part to produce and increase material availability for various defence programmes," said Dennis Frett, president of Toray Composite Materials America.

Toray is the largest carbon fibre and prepreg producer in the United States. The Decatur plant has operation lines from precursor to carbon fibre and is one of three Toray manufacturing facilities. The company has other locations in Tacoma, Washington, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, producing precursor, carbon fibre, and prepreg. Toray's comprehensive portfolio of carbon fibre composite materials supports customers in aerospace and defence, industrial, and automotive industries.