The market demand for carbon fiber continues to grow, especially in key areas such as aerospace, wind turbine blades, and automobile manufacturing. In the aerospace field, carbon fiber has become the preferred material for key components such as aircraft and missiles due to its light weight and high strength. The wind power field has benefited from the excellent mechanical properties and weight reduction effect of carbon fiber blades, which has promoted the rapid development of the wind power industry. In addition, with the popularization of new energy vehicles and the increasing demand of consumers for lightweight and high-performance products, the application of carbon fiber in sports and leisure, building materials and other fields has also continued to grow.
Carbon fiber is a high-tech material, mainly made of organic fibers (such as polyacrylonitrile PAN) through a high-temperature cracking and carbonization process, and its carbon content is as high as 90%. This material has excellent properties such as high strength, light weight, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and fatigue resistance, and is known as the “king of new materials.” Carbon fiber can not only be processed into fabrics, but also made into composite materials, which are widely used in aerospace, rail transportation, shipbuilding, wind turbine blades, new energy vehicles, sports and leisure and other high-tech and emerging industries.
Survey on the current development status of the carbon fiber industry market
In recent years, the carbon fiber market has shown a strong growth momentum. According to a research report by China Research Institute of Industry, the global carbon fiber production capacity will increase to 290,000 tons/year in 2023, an increase of 12.3% over 2022; China’s carbon fiber operating capacity is 140,800 tons, an increase of 25.7% over the previous year. It is estimated that China’s carbon fiber production capacity will reach 145,600 tons in 2024, and the output will reach 68,000 tons. At the same time, the scale of China’s carbon fiber market continues to expand. The market size in 2022 is 12.81 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 20.69%; the market size in 2023 is about 15.37 billion CNY; it is expected that in 2025 (the original text mentions 2024 data, but this is a forecast for 2025, so it is slightly adjusted) The market size will reach more than 17.14 billion CNY.
The growth of the carbon fiber market is mainly due to the rapid development of global industrialization and informatization, as well as the popularization of green, low-carbon, energy-saving and emission reduction concepts. At the same time, technological progress has also promoted the improvement of carbon fiber performance and the reduction of costs, making carbon fiber widely used in more fields.
According to the “2024-2029 China Carbon Fiber Industry Prospect Analysis and Future Trend Forecast Report” released by China Research Institute of Industry, it shows:
Analysis of the competitive landscape of the carbon fiber industry
The market concentration of the carbon fiber industry is high, and a few large companies occupy a large market share. In the Chinese market, Jilin Chemical Fiber, Zhongfu Shenying, Guangwei Composites and other companies are in a leading position. These companies have performed well in production capacity, output, technical strength and market layout. In addition, companies such as Xinchuang Carbon Valley and Xinjiang Longju are also developing rapidly, forming a fierce competitive landscape.
From a global perspective, international giants such as Japan’s Toray and the United States Hexcel still dominate, but Chinese companies are rising rapidly and gradually narrowing the gap with international giants. These leading companies are constantly expanding production capacity, improving technical levels and expanding markets to better meet market demand.
However, while the carbon fiber industry is developing rapidly, it is also facing some challenges, such as fluctuations in raw material prices, high production costs, and fierce market competition. In order to meet these challenges, companies have increased their investment in research and development, improved product quality and service levels, and better met market demand.
Research and analysis on the forecast of future development prospects of the carbon fiber industry
In the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the increase in the localization rate, the competitiveness of domestic carbon fiber in the market will gradually increase. For example, the application of advanced processes such as dry-jet wet spinning will significantly improve the performance and production efficiency of carbon fiber; the continuous improvement of composite material molding technology will also effectively reduce production costs and improve product quality. These technological advances will lay a solid foundation for the further expansion of the carbon fiber market.
Expansion of application fields
Carbon fiber has been widely used in many fields due to its unique performance advantages. In the future, with the popularization of new energy vehicles, the rapid development of the aerospace field, and the growing demand for carbon fiber in photovoltaics, pressure vessels, rail transportation and other fields, the application scope of carbon fiber will be further broadened. Especially in the field of new energy vehicles, carbon fiber will become the preferred material for lightweight and high-performance products, bringing new growth opportunities to the industry.
Policy support and industrial development
A series of policy measures issued by the state are aimed at promoting technological innovation, capacity expansion and market expansion in the carbon fiber industry. For example, the “Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries” jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other departments clearly put forward the goal of developing key strategic materials such as high-performance carbon fiber. These policies will create a good external environment for the rapid development of the carbon fiber industry.
Market competition and integration
With the intensification of market competition and the acceleration of industry integration, carbon fiber companies will increase their R&D investment and improve product quality and service levels to better meet market demand. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises also have the opportunity to gain competitive advantages in specific fields or market segments. These changes will promote the sustainable development and industrial upgrading of the carbon fiber industry.
In summary, the carbon fiber market has broad development prospects and huge market potential. Driven by technological progress, market demand growth and policy support, the carbon fiber industry will continue to maintain a rapid growth trend and become an important force in promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and green development. For investors, the carbon fiber industry is undoubtedly an emerging field worthy of attention and investment.
