Japan's top synthetic fibre maker Toray plans to invest 55 billion yen (454 million dollars) to boost carbon fibre output in Japan, France and the United States, according to a newspaper report.

Toray Industries Inc aims to raise its production capacity for carbon fibre more than 30 percent by the end of 2008 with demand sharply increasing for strong, lightweight filaments used in aircraft and automobiles, the Nikkei business daily said.

Under the plan, Toray will build a new factory in Ishikawa, central Japan, and expand production capacity at its Ehime plant in western Japan, the newspaper said.

The firm will expand production at its US and French plants by 50 percent by December 2008 as part of effort to raise its global production capacity for the material from the current 13,100 tonnes to 17,900 tonnes a year, it said.

The planned increase in output is mainly intended for Boeing's next-generation 787 Dreamliner passenger jet, the Nikkei said.

Last year, Toray won a six-billion-dollar contract from Boeing to supply cloth of epoxy resin-soaked carbon fibres for use in the fuselage of the Boeing 787 over 16 years to 2021.