TOKYO - Toray Industries, Inc. is to establish a joint venture company in the Republic of Korea as part of its plan to increase its presence in the country's filtration sector.
The deal, with water purifier and air filters manufacturer MCM Co, part of the Chung Ho Nais Group, will see the creation of a new company, named M&T Engineering Co. Ltd. MCM will have a 60 per cent stake with Toray investing 40 per cent of the company that will be capitalized at 6 billion won (about 600 million yen.
The joint venture will combine the assembling and processing as well as automation expertise of MCM with Toray's integrated design and development technology starting from fibres and filter materials to assembled units. The aim is to establish a local production base for high performance filters, which Toray sees as key to expanding the business in Republic of Korea.
The Chung Ho Nais Group has a high share of the South Korean water purifier market, and has a broad business base with sales to major global players in the country in addition to exports to some 60 countries.
Toray has been producing nonwoven fabric for air filters since 2012 at Toray Fibers (Nantong) Co., Ltd., its fibre production base in China. M&TE will assemble filters that use TFNL's nonwoven fabric for high-performance filters, thereby accelerating the sales expansion in the country as well as around the world by directly supplying to major home electronics and automobile manufacturers. 　
"The global demand for air filters is expected to continue growing primarily in Asia and other emerging countries," Toray said. "In particular, the Korean market is an important target, given the anticipated spreading of the filter business to other parts of the world led by global players in various fields such as automobile and home electronics, in addition to the steady demand for the air cleaner application.
"Toray and MCM will position M&TE as the base for global expansion of the air filter business, and along with strengthening the response to the local customers, will implement a strategy that will leverage the superiority of both companies while identifying new areas of applications."
