Carbon fiber is hailed as the “King of New Materials,” boasting extensive applications and higher downstream value-added potential. 1. Carbon fiber finds widespread use in aerospace, industrial, and sports/leisure sectors. In specialized fields like aviation equipment, where high performance is prioritized over cost sensitivity, carbon fiber adoption is already prevalent. Concurrently, advancements in manufacturing processes have steadily reduced unit costs, driving its expansion into more industrial applications. 2. Downstream composite materials and fabricated components possess significantly higher value-added potential, commanding 5 to 10 times the value per unit weight of carbon fiber itself. This pattern mirrors most material supply chains, making vertical integration within the industry and multi-directional expansion into downstream markets the two primary development paths for companies—or a combination of both.
The carbon fiber market has transitioned to a dual-engine model driven by aerospace and industrial applications. Looking back at global carbon fiber development trends, its primary use was once confined to aerospace. However, with technological advancements and reduced costs, application areas have continuously expanded, leading to growing market recognition for large-towel carbon fiber. Simultaneously, under the trend of carbon neutrality, countries have established industrial policy targets across multiple sectors including wind power, photovoltaics, hydrogen energy, new energy vehicles, and carbon-based new materials. This has also driven the development of the carbon fiber industry.
Aerospace Market: Civil aviation demand for carbon fiber declined in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the aerospace sector’s demand for carbon fiber reached 16,450 tons, a 30% decrease from the 23,500 tons recorded in 2019. Commercial aircraft accounted for the largest share, approximately 52.9%. Data indicates that global air passenger traffic declined by about 63% in 2020 compared to 2019. However, specialized application sectors remained largely unaffected.
Wind Power Market: Rapid Development with Significant Potential. In 2020, carbon fiber demand in the wind power market surged to 30,600 tons, a 20% increase from 25,500 tons in 2019. Demand is projected to reach 190,000-200,000 tons by 2030. In October 2020, the Beijing Declaration on Wind Energy was released: By 2030, China’s annual new wind power installed capacity will reach at least 80 GW. This will drive the development of China’s wind power market and spur rapid growth in carbon fiber demand.
New Energy Vehicles: Carbon fiber serves as a critical lightweight material option for automobiles, while hydrogen storage tanks create new demand. Weight reduction is an essential objective in new energy vehicle development, and carbon fiber stands out as the material with the best overall performance for lightweighting. Numerous automakers have incorporated carbon fiber composites into their new products. Concurrently, the advancement of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is driving demand for carbon fiber used in manufacturing automotive hydrogen storage tanks.
Global Demand for Carbon Fiber
From 2008 to 2020, the global carbon fiber market maintained steady growth, with China accounting for approximately 50% of global demand and experiencing rapid expansion. In 2020, the global carbon fiber market growth slowed, reaching a total volume of 106,860 tons (corresponding to a market size of approximately $2.615 billion), representing a 3% year-on-year increase from 103,700 tons in 2019.
In 2020, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for carbon fiber in the aerospace sector declined by 30%. Growth in carbon fiber demand from the sports and leisure market also slowed from 5% in 2019 to 2.7%. For example, Toray Industries’ carbon fiber composite materials division saw its Q1 2020 revenue drop by 26.2% year-on-year. However, global wind power demand for carbon fiber maintained robust growth of 20%. Carbon fiber demand in the wind power sector (primarily large-towel carbon fiber) maintained robust growth exceeding 20%, emerging as a key growth driver for carbon fiber demand. China’s carbon fiber demand side achieved rapid growth of 29%, with accelerated domestic substitution progress. On the supply side, multiple global carbon fiber producers continued expansion plans, with China’s supply surpassing Japan’s for the first time. This contributed to global carbon fiber consumption exceeding RMB 18.3 billion in 2020, with only an 8.8% year-on-year decline due to reduced sales of high-priced aerospace-grade carbon fiber. Concurrently, global carbon fiber consumption is projected to experience rapid growth as the aviation sector gradually recovers and downstream markets like wind power and hydrogen energy demonstrate robust demand expansion. Estimates indicate that global carbon fiber demand reached 107,000 metric tons in 2020, a 3% year-on-year increase. Projections suggest this figure could reach 200,000 metric tons by 2025, with the industry continuing its rapid expansion driven primarily by industrial applications.