Japanese carbon fibre manufacturer Mitsubishi Rayon (MRC, Tokyo; www.mrc.co.jp) has resumed construction at its carbon fibre plant in Otake / Japan. In its original plan MRC had wanted to start up the 2,700 t/y line in Q4 2009, but faced with the global economic downturn the company in March 2009 decided to delay construction. As a result, the line’s commissioning has now been rescheduled for Q2 2011.

MRC said its decision to resume construction comes amid increasing demand for carbon fibres for sports and leisure applications at a time when global carbon fibre manufacturing plants are already running at full throttle.

Until the Otake plant is up and running, MRC will be manufacturing its new “P330” series at its plant in Grafil / USA for customer evaluation. “P330” materials have a filament count of 50-60k, and are said to be more easily processable for large composites.