Toray Advanced Materials Korea Begins to Produce Parts for Mask Filters to Help Fight Epidemic
Diaper material production line turned into a production line for KF-80 filters, core components of face masks
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Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun tours a melt-blown filter plant of Toray Advanced Materials Korea to give words of encouragement to company executives and staff who devote themselves in mass production of the melt-blown filter, a raw material for producing masks. Prime Minister Chung is accompanied by Toray Advanced Materials Korea Chairman Lee Young-kwan, President Jeon Hae-sang, and Director General for Materials, Parts and Equipment Industries Kang Kyung-sung at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and President Hwang Kyu-yeon of Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (Photo: TAK)
Toray Advanced Materials Korea in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, supplies essential materials in various industries ranging from fiber, film and basic materials in IT to high-value-added special materials. Cutting-edg, world-class technology and quality competitiveness, has transformed Toray Advanced Materials Korea into a global enterprise. The company was established in December 1999.
Recently, Toray Advanced Materials Korea took on a big new challenge of producing materials for face masks in the wake of the outbreak and spread of the novel coronavirus. The company has begun helping resolve a shortage of face masks which holds the key to preventing the COVID-19 virus spreading among people.
The company put into operation its production system for melt blown nonwoven fabrics for mask filters on March 31. The system is able to produce 13 tons a day. Thirteen tons of melt blown nonwoven fabrics can be made into 6.5 million units of Korean Filter (KF)-80 masks per day.
In general, makers of face masks for health care separately produce spunbond nonwoven fabrics used in outer skins and inner skins and melt blown nonwoven fabrics that serve as filters.
They combine spunbond and melt-blown nonwoven fabrics in one line. Their production speed is five times faster, so there products increase five-fold compared to other production lines.
Toray Advanced Materials Korea was scheduled to start its production lines this May, but on March 3, Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun visited Toray Advanced Materials Korea so the company discussed ramping up its production with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to move up the operation of the production lines by more than a month and a half.
Toray Advanced Materials Korea’s materials face masks were recently tested by the Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR), and went into production from March 31 after receiving approval of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy plans to supply face mask materials to mask makers that are suffering production disruptions due to a lack of melt blown nonwoven fabrics in cooperation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Toray Advanced Materials Korea.
“Toray Advanced Materials Korea has decided to convert its diaper material production line into a KF-80 filter mass production line through consultation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy,” a Toray Advanced Materials Korea official said.
On the other hand, the Korean government expected that the supply of melt blown nonwoven fabrics whose demand soared due to the spread of the novel coronavirus will stabilize as Toray Advanced Materials Korea entered mass production of them on March 31.
In the meantime, Toray Advanced Materials Korea announced on March 6 that it contributed 300 million won to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association to help the nation overcome the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“As the entire people are having a difficult time, all our employees will step up efforts to get over the novel coronavirus fiasco and prevent the virus spread,” said Jeon Hae-sang, president of Toray Advanced Materials Korea.
“In particular, as a company based in Gyeongbuk, we hope that our contribution and efforts will become a helping hand to those in need in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.”
The donation will be used to prevent the virus from spread in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, the hardest hit area in Korea, supply quarantine and relief items such as masks and daily necessities and help medical personnel struggling to take care of those who fell ill with the virus and contain the epidemic.
