Reasons for the decline in carbon fiber market demand
1. High production cost
As a high-performance material, carbon fiber has a relatively high production cost. Despite the continuous advancement of production technology, large-scale, low-cost production is still not possible. This has discouraged many companies from purchasing carbon fiber, and market demand has naturally declined.
2. More substitutes
With the emergence of other high-performance materials, the number of substitutes for carbon fiber has gradually increased. These new materials have advantages in both performance and price, which has reduced the competitiveness of carbon fiber in the market.
3. Poor economic situation
The current global economic situation is not optimistic, and many industries have been hit to varying degrees. This has led companies to be more cautious when purchasing materials and stay away from high-priced carbon fiber.
Start with emerging industries and expand application layout; secondly, we must focus on new technologies to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement of existing production lines and accelerate the breakthrough of high-end products.
New energy vehicles
As domestic new energy brands have made breakthroughs in high-end in recent years, the demand for high-end raw materials such as carbon fiber from self-owned brand luxury cars such as BYD Yangwang and GAC Haobo has also increased. For example, the hood, doors, roof, and other 32 parts of the GAC Haobo SSR model are all made of carbon fiber
Wind power
Wind turbine blades are the largest part of domestic carbon fiber applications, accounting for more than 30% of the total usage, and are mainly used in the main beams of offshore wind blades. In 2022, China's wind turbine orders hit a new high of 93.8GW; from January to April 2023, the domestic wind power installed capacity increased by 14.2GW, a year-on-year increase of 35%.
Humanoid Robots
According to a recent Minsheng Securities research, carbon fiber, as a lightweight core material for robots, can be used in manipulators and other parts. According to Stratistics Market Research Consulting data, the global humanoid robot market size is expected to be US$14.1 billion in 2027, which is expected to drive an increase of 52.875 million tons of carbon fiber, becoming the next important growth pole for carbon fiber.
