Asahi Kasei’s Fibers & Textiles SBU will expand capacity for Lamous™ microfiber suede in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan.

Lamous™ is a high-quality microfiber suede (artificial suede) material featuring a unique three-layered¹ microstructure. Leveraging its luxurious smooth texture and flexibility in design as well as superior environmental characteristics, Asahi Kasei has actively expanded its Lamous™ business worldwide in a wide variety of applications including automotive interiors, furniture upholstery, IT accessories, apparel, and industrial materials.

Sold in markets around the world, Lamous™ is enjoying particularly strong demand growth in automotive interiors. As such demand growth is forecasted to continue, the decision was made to expand capacity. Moving forward, Asahi Kasei will continue to expand production capacity and enhance the production infrastructure in order to strengthen the Lamous™ supply configuration in line with additional growth in the global market.

Outline of the capacity increase

Location

Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan

Product

Lamous™ microfiber suede

Additional capacity

Approximately 3 million m²/year
(current capacity approximately 6 million m²/year)

Groundbreaking

First half of fiscal 2017

Start-up

First half of fiscal 2019

1. ¹ The three-layer structured Lamous™ is made of the front, back, and core layers. They are three-dimensionally entangled with microfibers, and the core layer is composed of a fine, specially-woven fabric called “scrim,” which improves strength and dimensional stability. Impregnation with water-based polyurethane imparts a soft and highly flexible texture.