One of Xpro’s competitors Toray industries is listed.
Latest investor presentation for Toray:
Toray is a giant. It’s film division is housed under Advanced Chemicals => Films division. The films division alone does ~2.5B$ sales annually
Toray through its film brand Torayfan claims to be a leader in EV capacitor market globally:
This biaxially oriented polypropylene film delivers high thermal and voltage resistance for the capacitors of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery, fuel-cell, and other electrified vehicles. The new offering makes it possible to downsize vehicle power control units (PCUs) while enhancing thermal resistance and efficiency. This feature enhances the design freedom and fuel economy of these automobiles.
Film capacitors are a prime application, which commonly found in the electronic appliances and IT equipments. They are also used in electrified vehicles, for which annual demand will likely rise around 20% as environmental regulation becomes more stringent, particularly in Europe and China. Torayfan dominates the automotive capacitor film market because of its unique features in maintaining thinness and voltage resistance.
PCUs are vital to electrified vehicle powertrains, which regulate motor output, and need to be as compact as possible to boost the design flexibility of these automobiles. Polypropylene film capacitors are the largest core components of PCU inverter circuits. Inverters are devices that change direct current to alternating current and regulate the frequency. Recent years have seen demand rise particularly for high thermal resistance on top of a prevailing need for downsizing. It has been challenging, however, to significantly increase the thermal resistance of biaxially oriented polypropylene films.
Toray started mass production of this latest Torayfan offering after completing performance assessments. The company seeks to boost capacity at the Tsuchiura Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, which is scheduled to go on line in 2022, to match growing demand for automotive capacitors. Toray is pushing ahead with plans to lift production capacity for such films by around 60%.
Here is a latest capacity dump for torayfan
Note that this capacity is for torayfan completely. This includes packaging applications too & there are many grades. Most likely Tsuchiura (japan) is the only specialized (Capacitor) grade Film plant. Thus estimate for Toray’s Film capacitor grade film is 11000-110000 (my guess is closer to lower bound)
What i found quite fascinating is that it looks like MLCC (Multi layer ceramic capacitor) also uses films made by Toray though a different brand:
Toray leads the global MLCC mold release film market, producing these offerings at the Mishima and Gifu plants in Japan, Penfibre Sdn. Berhad in Malaysia, and Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc. The domestic upgrade will enable Toray to capitalize swiftly on the MLCC market’s expansion, as Japan is the biggest consumer of release films.
Lumirror™ is an incredibly smooth film which Toray has developed based on its decades of experience in film development. This film provides a thin finish for ceramic layers and is free of irregularities. Many MLCC manufacturers have adopted it, helping them to miniaturize and raise the capacity of MLCCs.
Toray’s new line will have one of the largest MLCC film production capabilities in Japan, embodying the company’s quality enhancement capabilities with existing lines. This setup will enable Toray to cater to market demand in coming years for thinner and smoother films.
^ does look like Lumirror film for MLCC is a more indirect application unlike Film capacitors where film is the heart of the capacitor.
Disclaimer: Invested, biased.
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