Toray International UK, Astar sign agreement for CMSC supply in U.K.

Astar S.A. (Bilbao, Spain), a manufacturer specializing in the formulation and manufacturing of sheet molding compound (SMC), bulk molding compound (BMC) and carbon fiber sheet molding compound (CSMC), and Toray International UK Ltd. (TIUK, London, U.K.), the U.K. sales representative for Toray Industries’ carbon fiber materials, have signed an exclusive agreement for the supply of CSMC materials in the U.K.

The exclusive agreement between Astar and TIUK is said to continue a strong collaboration between the parties, which started in 2018 as part of a £37 million government-funded project, Tucana, through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) led by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR, Coventry, U.K.). The academic and industry partners from this consortium aim to develop lightweight, scalable carbon fiber technology for use in electric vehicles.

“We are honored to represent Astar’s CSMC products in the U.K. market,” says Alan Riley, director of Sales and Marketing at TIUK. “We believe that TIUK can only offer further value to our customers with the addition of Astar’s CSMC products to our portfolio.”