BASF, Toray Advanced Composites sign supply agreement

 

 

Toray Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.) and BASF (Wyandotte, Mich., U.S.) have signed a manufacturing and supply agreement focused on the production of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes for the automotive and industrial markets. Toray Advanced Composites will produce glass fiber- or carbon fiber-reinforced tapes using BASF’s Ultramid PA6 (polyamide) engineering thermoplastics.

“BASF has been a valued partner for Toray Advanced Composites for many years. This new supply agreement strengthens our ability to make the highest quality tapes, affordably, for our customers,” says Keisuke Ishii, CEO of Toray Advanced Composites.

According to the companies, this supply agreement enhances manufacturing capacity, providing wider commercial availability of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials, which they say will will enable the adoption of advanced materials for lightweight, structural components in a range of industrial markets. For example, the companies say that automotive manufacturers can use the new materials to design and rapidly produce optimized components at a lower cost, while using the latest fabrication methods such as automated stamp forming and overmolding.

“By developing innovative lightweight, composite material technologies for automotive applications, this partnership underlines both companies’ strong commitment to drive sustainable solutions,” says Jeff DeAlmeida, VP, transportation industry, performance materials North America, BASF.

Toray Advanced Composites’ continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials are said to be compatible with a range of BASF’s Ultramid compounds, enabling more efficient, multifunctional parts to be produced in fewer steps and with less labor compared to more traditional methods.