Tokyo, Japan – Japan’s Toray Industries has agreed to supply carbon fiber materials for Boeing’s new 777X jet and the Dreamliner in a 10-year deal worth more than $8.6 billion.

The deal calls for Toray to supply the material Boeing will use to build wings for the new jet, a large twin-engine passenger aircraft that’s set for delivery in 2020.

Boeing is building a plant in Washington state dedicated to making the 777X’s wings and Toray “has been selected for these main wings,” it said.

Last year, Toray said it would buy smaller U.S. rival Zoltek for about $584 million, on the back of rising demand for carbon fiber materials, which are lighter and stronger than steel and aluminium.

The news on Monday was partly in response to Boeing’s plan to ramp up production of the Dreamliner, Toray said.

Boeing has said it is planning to raise the number of 787 aircraft being produced every month from the current 10 planes to 12 per month in 2016 and 14 per month by the end of the decade.

12/08/2014