Hyosung completed the construction of a carbon fiber manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, last year. The company is planning to increase the capacity to 14,000 tons a year by investing a total of 1.2 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) by 2020.
Also, it is investing 40 billion won (US$36 million) to set up and run R&D and business incubation centers there, turning the place into the world’s most developed carbon cluster.
In this context, Hyosung is aiming to develop original and applied carbon fiber technologies with the Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence Technology, the KIST Composite Material Research Institute, and many more, to cover carbon fiber materials, components, and finished products alike.
Large-scale projects are scheduled to discover carbon fiber applications in a variety of industrial fields including automobiles, shipbuilding, construction machinery, aviation, and power generation. Hyosung is expecting that the resultant market and added value creation will lead to US$10 billion in exports of carbon-related products by 2020.