TOKYO, Feb 9 Japan's Toray Industries Inc. said on Friday it plans to invest a total of 5

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) Japan's Toray Industries Inc. said on Friday it plans to invest a total of 55 billion yen ($455 million) to boost output capacity of carbon fibre, mainly for Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner.

Toray, the country's top maker of synthetic fibre, said global demand for carbon fibre is expected to grow 15 percent a year on the back of strong demand for its use in aircraft, energy-related facilities and automobiles.

Shares in Toray rose 2.2 percent to 883 yen by midsession, outperforming a 0.61 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei average The company has set aside 100 billion yen to lift output capacity to 24,000 tonnes by 2010 from a current 13,100 tonnes, and the 55 billion yen investment is part of the plan, spokesman Yoshitaka Yamagata said.

After boosting capacity at its plants in Ehime, southwestern Japan, and in the United States and France, Toray will be able to produce 17,900 tonnes of carbon fibre by the end of 2008, up 37 percent from the current level.

Toray will also build a new plant in Ishikawa, northwest of Tokyo, to produce prepreg, a sheet-form carbon fibre impregnated with resin.

The planned output increase will mainly be channelled towards producing materials for Boeing's new Dreamliner. In 2006 Toray won a long-term order worth $3 billion from Boeing to supply carbon fibre materials for the 787 jet, on top of a $3 billion order secured in 2004.

Boeing, which outsold European rival Airbus last year, is dominating the lucrative market for wide-body planes, led by its lightweight 787. The carbon and titanium 787 is Boeing's most successful plane launch, racking up more than 450 firm orders since 2004.

The 787 jet is set to enter service next year.

Toray said it expects global demand for carbon fibre to reach 45,500 tonnes in 2010, compared with an estimated 27,000 tonnes in 2006.

The company on Wednesday cut its operating profit forecast by 1.9 percent to 102 billion yen for the year to March because of high material prices and a steep price fall in flat panel displays.

Carbon fibre is used for films for flat panel displays.

That compares with a consensus projection of 103.2 billion yen in a poll of 17 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

REUTERS DKS PM0803