• HITCO Signs Contract With Kawasaki Heavy Industries

Los Angeles, August 6, 2007. SGL Group – The Carbon Company - announced today that its US-Los Angeles based subsidiary HITCO Carbon Composites, Inc. entered into a long-term contract with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., to become a supplier of composite floor beams for an aircraft fuselage section of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The composite floor beams will be produced using HITCO’s recently acquired Automated Tape Lay-up machine.  

HITCO, with the support of its parent SGL Group are spearheading an aggressive new growth strategy. Edward Carson, HITCO’s Chief Operating Officer stated: “Composites are finally being recognized for their superior properties in the aerospace industry. HITCO’s enhanced capabilities enable us to become the best Tier II supplier in the aerospace industry.” Increasing the design engineering capabilities, and automating production lines, along with the predominance in the hand lay-up of complex components due to lean manufacturing techniques, places HITCO in the forefront of most modern composite technologies. The Company is adding state-of-the-art equipment such as its new Cincinnati Machine “Charger” Automated Tape Lay-up machine, and the new Viper 6000 Automated Fiber Placement machine. To accommodate even more automated production equipment, HITCO is modernizing and upgrading its ample production facilities. These new capabilities enable the Company to make strategic agreements with the Tier I suppliers to the major OEMs of the world as well as the military prime contractors. “We seek long-term production ‘carve-out’ contracts that will continue HITCO’s role as a leader in the composite manufacturing industry”, stated Edward G. Carson.

HITCO Carbon Composites, Inc. was founded in 1922 and manufactures advanced composite materials primarily for aerospace and defense applications and is part of the SGL Groups Business Unit Carbon Fibers and Composites (CFC). HITCO continues to be an innovative leader in the advancement of carbon composite technologies and continues to strategically focus within the SGL Group on new projects for aerospace/aircraft and defense applications.


About SGL Group – The Carbon Company
The SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products. It has a  comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable  the Company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group’s carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight. Due to the paradigm shift in the use of materials as a result of the worldwide shortage of energy and raw materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group’s high-performance materials and products from an increasing number of industries. Carbon and graphite products are used whenever other materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastics, wood etc. fail due to their limited properties. Products from the SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminum, automotive, chemical and glass/ceramics industries. However, manufacturers in the semiconductor, battery, solar/wind energy, environmental protection, aerospace and defense industries as well as in the nuclear energy industry also figure among the Company’s customers.

With around 30 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries, the SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2006, the Company’s  workforce of 5,250 generated  sales of € 1.2 billion. The Company’s head office is located in Wiesbaden/Germany.


Important note:
This press release contains statements on future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results deviating from these forward-looking statements. The statements on future developments are not to be understood as guarantees. The future developments and events are dependent on a number of factors, they include various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions that may not be correct. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic and business conditions, particularly in the area of electrosteel production, the competitive situation, interest rate and currency developments, technological developments and other risks and unanticipated circumstances. We see other risks in price developments, unexpected developments relating to acquired and consolidated companies and in the ongoing cost optimization programs. SGL Carbon does not intend to update these forward-looking statements