TOKYO -- Japan's Sekisui Chemical plans to supply products made from carbon fiber composites for infrastructure applications, seeking to leverage its ties to the construction industry to cultivate a largely untapped market for the material.
Carbon fiber is said to weigh one-fourth as much as steel while being more than 10 times as strong. Three Japanese companies -- global leader Toray Industries, Teijin and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings -- control 60% of the market. They produce the fibers themselves as well as composite materials that use them.
