Asahi Kasei to manufacture airbag fabric in Vietnam

Thai Binh, Vietnam – Asahi Kasei is expanding its airbag fabric manufacturing footprint with the establishment of a new production facility in the northern Thai Binh province of Vietnam.

In a joint venture with Teijin Frontier and Asahi Kasei Advance, the Japanese materials supplier aims to produce 20 million square metres of fabric per year, a 13 Dec 2021 announcement said.

Scheduled for operation in the first half of 2024, the plant will manufacture the fabric using Asahi Kasei’s Leona polyamide 66 filament, which is most notably used as airbag yarn and tire cord.

“Vehicle airbags are a major application, and continuing growth is forecasted as vehicle production rises in Asia, safety requirements become higher, and the number of airbags per vehicle increases,” said the company.

Furthermore, customers’ needs for airbags are expected to diversify as markets continue to trend towards CASE (connected, autonomous, shared/service, electric) and sustainability, it added.

Asahi Kasei said it intended to continue to expand its business “in every segment of the airbag material supply chain” including feedstock, yarn, fabric, and sewing.

The group currently operates a joint venture with Teijin Frontier to manufacture fabric for airbags in China. In addition it markets Leona 66 yarn in China and manufactures and sells sewn fabric in the country.