Toray Industries (Tokyo / Japan; www.toray.com) has signed a long-term agreement with aerospace and defence company EADS to supply carbon fibre prepregs for aircraft applications. The Japanese group said that, under the 15 year agreement, the carbon fibre prepegs will be used primarily for Airbus aircraft. Until now, Toray supplied carbon fibres to EADS through third parties that produced prepregs using carbon fibre material supplied by Toray. This agreement enables Toray to supply EADS directly with a wider range of products, including its carbon fibre prepregs.

Demand for carbon fibre for aircraft applications has been stagnant since 2008 but there are signs of recovery and expansion of the market as major aircraft manufacturers increase their aircraft production, Toray said. The company has an approximately 60% share of the market for carbon fibres for aircraft application, it added.