BASF and Toray in Supply Agreement for Production of CFRT Tapes for Automotive & Industrial Applications

Toray Advanced Composites (U.S. office in Morgan Hill, Calif.) and BASF, Florham Park, N.J., signed a manufacturing and supply agreement focused on the production of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRT) tapes for the automotive and industrial markets. Toray Advanced Composites will produce high quality and affordable CFRT tapes using BASF’s range of Ultramid nylon engineering thermoplastics. The fiber manufacturer will reinforce BASF’s Ultramid nylon 6 resins with either glass fiber or with carbon fiber.

The supply agreement enhances manufacturing capacity providing wider commercial availability of CFRT materials, which will enable the adoption of advanced materials for lightweight, structural components in a wide range of industrial markets. With these CFRT materials, automotive manufacturers can design and rapidly produce optimized components at a lower cost, while using the latest fabrication methods such as automated stamp forming and overmolding.

Toray’s  CFRT materials are compatible with a wide range of BASF’s Ultramid nylon compounds (which include nylon 6, nylon 66. Nylon 6/66 and various impact or otherwise modified grades), enabling more efficient, multifunctional parts to be produced in fewer steps and with less labor compared to more traditional methods. BASF’s Ultramid products include unique and innovative materials for optimal structural application development.