[사설] Toray, with its first investment of $100 million, will take a leap forward as a high-tech materials city in Gumi

Japan’s Toray, the world’s No. 1 carbon fiber company, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a plant to produce key materials for future high-tech industries at Toray Advanced Materials Gumi Plant 5 on the 23rd. Toray announced its plan to invest in aramid fiber during Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun’s visit to Japan last April, and in May signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Gyeongbuk Province, and Gumi City to invest 500 billion won in the field of advanced materials. The groundbreaking ceremony is the result. Toray, a representative Japanese chemical and textile conglomerate with over 300 global subsidiaries, is undisputedly number one in the world with a 40% carbon fiber market share. Our relationship with Korea spans over 60 years. Investment has been made in the form of technology transfer since 1963, before the normalization of diplomatic relations, and the cumulative investment amount is over 5 trillion won. Saehan Group and Woongjin Chemical acquired shares in the joint venture to form Toray Advanced Materials.

Toray is the company that succeeded in commercializing carbon fiber, the ‘dream material’, 10 years after its development. It started with fishing rods, golf club shafts, and tennis rackets, but the goal was the airplane fuselage. The ‘Crow Project’, which sought to build an airplane using black carbon fiber, achieved the great success of being selected as a material for Boeing aircraft, and eventually carbon fiber began to be used for the entire fuselage of the Boeing 787. 50 years of effort paid off. Since then, it has expanded its investment into high-performance engineering plastics and secondary battery separators, and is producing key materials for electric vehicles and semiconductors.

On this day, Toray announced plans to invest more than $100 million in Gumi. This is to expand aramid fiber and polyester film production facilities. Aramid fiber is an ultra-high strength and ultra-high heat-resistant super fiber that is five times stronger than steel, and is used in electric vehicle motors and heat-resistant protective clothing. Polyester film is a core material for multilayer ceramic condensers applied to electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) devices. The global supply base for these essential materials for future new industries will be established in Gumi. This is a golden opportunity to grow related industries, including the semiconductor field. Kim Young-seok, CEO of Toray Advanced Materials, promised to expand research and development and investment, and revitalize the local economy. It is the turn of the government and Gumi City to respond. Now that a solid stepping stone has been laid, it remains for Gumi to take a leap forward.