Producer
Toray Industries, Inc.
Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo; TSE: 3402; ~¥2.6T revenue) is Japan's largest synthetic fiber manufacturer and a major producer of SMS (spunbond-meltblown-spunbond) nonwoven fabrics for medical and hygiene applications. Toray's nonwovens business (Fibers & Textiles segment) produces meltblown and spunmelt fabrics at facilities in Japan, South Korea, China, and Southeast Asia. Toray's Eclat SMS fabric — a tri-layer structure with meltblown as the filtration core — is used in surgical gowns, drapes, and masks. Toray supplies SMS nonwoven to Kimberly-Clark, Mölnlycke Health Care, and major Asian mask manufacturers. Toray is also a major producer of polypropylene resin (feedstock for meltblown) through its petrochemicals affiliates, giving partial upstream integration.
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Inputs supplied
3
Goods downstream
7
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
5 inputs Toray Industries, Inc. supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
manufactured
Carbon Fiber Tow (Aerospace/Pressure Vessel Grade) →
manufactured
Thin-film composite RO membranes (FilmTec polyamide) →
manufactured
PVDF and polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes →
manufactured
Carbon Fiber Tow (Aerospace/Pressure Vessel Grade) →
manufactured
Meltblown polypropylene nonwoven electret fabric →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Toray Industries, Inc. makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
7 facilities
Toray Composite Materials America – Decatur, Alabama →
USAlabama
2030 Highway 20, Decatur, AL 35601. TCMA precursor-to-carbon-fiber production facility; produces T700S and other standard/intermediate modulus tow for aerospace, defense, industrial, and pressure vessel applications. One of two TCMA carbon fiber tow production sites (alongside Spartanburg SC). Decatur carbon fiber line construction was paused during the 2022-2023 CF market slowdown and restarted post-slowdown with aerospace qualifications targeted for 2025.
Toray Composite Materials America – Spartanburg, South Carolina →
USSouth Carolina
2202 Moore-Duncan Hwy, Moore (Spartanburg area), SC 29369. Toray's most integrated US facility: precursor + carbon fiber + prepreg all in one campus. Announced >20% capacity boost specifically targeting pressure vessel demand as hydrogen storage and SCBA cylinder markets grow. Spartanburg is part of South Carolina's advanced composites cluster (also hosts Solvay's carbon fiber facility at Piedmont SC). Toray projected 42% annual growth in CF demand for pressure vessels reaching ~40,000 tons/year by 2025.
Toray EHIME Plant - Masaki-cho, Japan →
JPPrimary RO membrane manufacturing facility; produces RO, UF, MBR membranes; key global supply hub
Toray Korea Manufacturing - Gongju, South Korea →
KRDedicated RO membrane production facility; expansion of Japanese capacity into South Korea
Toray Membrane Manufacturing (Japan and Singapore) →
JPShiga, Japan / Singapore · manufacturing_plant
Toray's primary RO membrane manufacturing sites; Japan handles R&D and premium elements; Singapore facility scales production for Asia-Pacific; Toray supplies the Saudi Arabia Ras Al Khair desalination plant (world's largest), demonstrating large-scale municipal RO capacity
Toray Shiga - Japan (hollow fiber) →
JPTIPS-based PVDF hollow fiber membrane production; primary R&D hub; new F-HFUG series launching May 2026
Toray Shiga / Ehime SMS Nonwoven Plants (Japan) →
JPShiga · manufacturing
Toray's Shiga Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture facilities are key production sites for Eclat SMS (spunbond-meltblown-spunbond) nonwoven fabrics used in surgical gowns, drapes, and mask layers. Toray's SMS nonwoven lines process polypropylene resin from Toray's petrochemical affiliates, giving partial upstream integration. Toray supplies SMS to major Japanese, Korean, and European medical device companies. The Shiga/Ehime cluster is the heart of Toray's Japanese nonwoven capability. Source: https://www.toray.com/global/ir/annual/pdf/ar2024e.pdf
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Fibers & Textiles
35%Performance Chemicals
20%Carbon Fiber Composites (TORAYCA)
20%Environment & Engineering
15%IT & Electronics
10%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2024
Toray Industries is simultaneously: (1) the world's largest carbon fiber producer (T700S is the SCBA pressure vessel standard for firefighter breathing air); (2) a major manufacturer of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes for water desalination and industrial water treatment; (3) a leading producer of polyester fibers for clothing; and (4) a critical Boeing supplier for commercial aircraft structures (787 Dreamliner fuselage is ~50% carbon fiber by weight, much of it Toray). The same Japanese company supplies the fibers in a firefighter's air cylinder, the membranes desalinating water in a Middle Eastern city, and the composite panels of the airplane that flies a passenger over that city. Four completely different life-critical supply chains, one Tokyo conglomerate.
Toray Carbon Fiber Europe ↗Origin2023
Toray Industries was founded in 1926 as Toyo Rayon (literally 'East Ocean Rayon') to manufacture rayon -- artificial silk -- at a time when Japan was trying to develop synthetic textile alternatives to reduce its expensive dependence on natural silk. The name 'Toray' is a contraction of 'Toyo Rayon.' Over a century, the company pivoted from rayon to nylon (1950s), polyester (1960s), carbon fiber (1970s -- licensing Rolls-Royce's PAN-based carbon fiber technology), advanced composites (1980s), RO water membranes (1990s), and LCD optical films (2000s). The progression from artificial silk in 1926 to supplying carbon fiber for Boeing 787 fuselages in 2011 represents one of the more dramatic technology pivots in industrial history -- built on a continuous thread of polymer fiber chemistry research that started with imitating silkworms and ended with building aircraft structures.
Toray Industries Inc. ↗