According to a report from Grand View Research Inc., the global composites market size is expected to reach USD 130.8 billion by 2024, and will continue to grow at an average compounding rate of 7.8% over the forecast period. What is the development trend of the composite materials industry in 2019 and beyond? The "2019 US Composites Industry Report" written by a number of research institutions in the United States has recently been released.
The composites industry is enjoying its ninth consecutive year of growth, with many opportunities in many verticals. As the main reinforcing material, fiberglass is helping drive this opportunity.
Global glass fiber production capacity in 2018 was 10.9 billion pounds, and the current utilization rate is 91%. With several major fiberglass producers building new plants around the world, the capacity of fiberglass plants will increase in 2019.
Owens Corning is expanding capacity at its glass fiber production facility in Chambery, France, which will help the company meet Europe's growing demand for thermoplastics. Other glass fiber suppliers expanding capacity include China's Boulder and Japan's NEG. China Boulder is building a 200,000-ton plant in Egypt and a 80,000-ton plant in South Carolina, USA. Japan's NEG acquired the glass fiber business of PPG in the United States, expanding its business in the United States.
With more and more OEMs using composite materials, the future of FRP looks promising. In many fields of application-concrete stiffeners, window frame profiles, utility poles, leaf springs, etc.-the utilization rate of composite materials is less than 1%. Investment in technology and innovation will contribute to the significant growth of the composites market in such applications. But this will require the development of disruptive technologies, major collaborations between industry companies, redesign of the value chain, and new ways of selling composites and end-use products.
The composites industry is a complex, knowledge-intensive industry with hundreds of raw material product portfolios and thousands of applications. Therefore, the industry needs to identify and prioritize the application of some bulk applications in order to promote growth based on factors such as synergies, capabilities, innovation potential, feasible opportunities, competitive strength, profit potential, and sustainability. Transportation, construction, pipelines, and storage tanks are the three major components of the US composites industry, accounting for 69% of total use.
Overall, the glass fiber industry has great growth potential because it currently accounts for only a small portion of the entire structural materials market.
To gain a competitive advantage over traditional materials, the industry needs to focus on the following important areas:
Train engineers and designers to understand the advantages of composite materials in high-volume markets such as civil engineering, automotive, plumbing and storage tanks.
By addressing the maintenance and recycling of composite materials, the development of cradle-to-grave-like infrastructure like steel and aluminum was developed.
Develop mature advanced manufacturing processes for high-volume markets, with a cycle of 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce material and part costs, making composite parts competitive with steel and aluminum parts. Develop disruptive technologies to gain a competitive advantage in terms of life cycle and performance.
The carbon fiber market continues to grow at a rate of 10% to 15% per year. In 2018, global carbon fiber demand was approximately 85,000 metric tons. Last year's growth was driven by the increased use of carbon fiber in aerospace projects, wind power blades, and various industrial applications.
This industry is expected to maintain this growth rate for the foreseeable future. Among them, the application of aerospace and wind power blades each accounts for about one-fifth of the market, while automobiles and sports goods occupy about one-sixth of the market. The remaining 25% to 30% of the market includes a variety of applications: injection molded plastics, pressure vessels, building and infrastructure reinforcement, tools, marine, oil and gas. As more applications and programs come into production, all market segments are growing.
The industry capacity of carbon fiber production is tightening. The industrial nameplate capacity (rated capacity) may be 140,000 metric tons, but considering the combination and variety of products produced and the inherent knock-down effect of the process, the effective industrial net capacity is only about 100,000 metric tons. As a result, we are currently seeing several new factories and capacity expansions, both long-term producers and new entrants.
China is a new entrant, accounting for 20% to 25% of world carbon fiber demand, and China also has the ability and space to catch up: Chinese producers have 12% to 15% of world nameplate capacity, but they produce less carbon fiber 5%. Chinese companies have sufficient resources to achieve more self-development goals. Carbon fiber demand is expected to exceed 100,000 tons in 2019-2020, and production capacity is expected to increase.
The acceptance of CFRP in any application will depend on technical conditions and economic benefits. In most applications, the main technical advantage of carbon fiber comes from the high strength and weight properties of the material, which reduces the weight structure.
All end-use market segments show great growth potential. Aerospace, wind turbine blades, sporting goods, and molding compounds are all good end uses, and they will continue to grow as more projects are designed to use carbon fiber composites. Pressure vessels (for compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, etc.) as well as construction and infrastructure applications are newer end uses. With the further development of their benefits and construction methods, the growth potential is huge.
Automotive applications have the highest market potential. Due to the increase in the adoption and automation of large-scale production applications, the cost of carbon fiber and the manufacturing cost of carbon fiber reinforced plastic parts are expected to decrease, so the opportunities for carbon fiber in automotive applications are almost unimaginable. Mass production will lead to lower costs and greater acceptance.
The economic growth of the United States is achieved through infrastructure investment, but a funding gap has been formed that threatens future growth and growth rates. In the next 10 years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that the funding gap between income and demand will reach $ 1.4 trillion. Failure to substantially reduce the funding gap will result in a loss of US GDP of 3.9 trillion U.S. dollars and 2.5 million fewer jobs; due to weak infrastructure, each household will spend $ 3,400 a year.
Fiber-reinforced polymer composite products and related systems can effectively repair or retrofit the infrastructure being used in the United States at a fraction of the original cost. Especially in highly corrosive areas, they can provide a more economical alternative to traditional building materials.
The industry capacity of carbon fiber production is tightening. The industrial nameplate capacity (rated capacity) may be 140,000 metric tons, but considering the combination and variety of products produced and the inherent knock-down effect of the process, the effective industrial net capacity is only about 100,000 metric tons. As a result, we are currently seeing several new factories and capacity expansions, both long-term producers and new entrants.
China is a new entrant, accounting for 20% to 25% of world carbon fiber demand, and China also has the ability and space to catch up: Chinese producers have 12% to 15% of world nameplate capacity, but they produce less carbon fiber 5%. Chinese companies have sufficient resources to achieve more self-development goals. Carbon fiber demand is expected to exceed 100,000 tons in 2019-2020, and production capacity is expected to increase.
The acceptance of CFRP in any application will depend on technical conditions and economic benefits. In most applications, the main technical advantage of carbon fiber comes from the high strength and weight properties of the material, which reduces the weight structure.
All end-use market segments show great growth potential. Aerospace, wind turbine blades, sporting goods, and molding compounds are all good end uses, and they will continue to grow as more projects are designed to use carbon fiber composites. Pressure vessels (for compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, etc.) as well as construction and infrastructure applications are newer end uses. With the further development of their benefits and construction methods, the growth potential is huge.
Automotive applications have the highest market potential. Due to the increase in the adoption and automation of large-scale production applications, the cost of carbon fiber and the manufacturing cost of carbon fiber reinforced plastic parts are expected to decrease, so the opportunities for carbon fiber in automotive applications are almost unimaginable. Mass production will lead to lower costs and greater acceptance.
The economic growth of the United States is achieved through infrastructure investment, but a funding gap has been formed that threatens future growth and growth rates. In the next 10 years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that the funding gap between income and demand will reach $ 1.4 trillion. Failure to substantially reduce the funding gap will result in a loss of US GDP of 3.9 trillion U.S. dollars and 2.5 million fewer jobs; due to weak infrastructure, each household will spend $ 3,400 a year.
Fiber-reinforced polymer composite products and related systems can effectively repair or retrofit the infrastructure being used in the United States at a fraction of the original cost. Especially in highly corrosive areas, they can provide a more economical alternative to traditional building materials.
The emergence of new automotive technologies will also affect the industry's future demand for composite materials. At present, the impact of electric powertrains and autonomous vehicles on automotive materials is currently the focus of debate. Electric vehicles have large batteries that must be closed to provide protection to the environment and the road. Self-driving cars will change the way people interact with cars and create new needs and desires for the internal functions of the car. For composites, the timing and scale of these technological changes will determine whether they are attractive opportunities in the short or long term.
The market share of composite materials in the automotive industry still has a lot of room for improvement. In the short term, the need for lightweight structures will drive new applications for composites to help meet growing regulatory barriers.
Europe's composites industry has grown for the sixth consecutive year, an increase of 2% compared to the previous year, with an estimated total output of 1.14 million metric tons. As in the past few years, the quantity of FRP produced in Europe reflects the trends observed in various market sectors. The production of thermoplastics, which are mainly used in the automotive industry, is still generally stronger than the production of most thermoset materials.
Although Europe's FRP output continues to grow, its output still lags behind the global average market trend. Especially in Asia and the United States, production has been increasing at a rate of more than 2% in recent years.
An analysis by country highlights trends within Europe. There are large differences between regional markets and a separate analysis is required. For example, FRP processing in Germany places great emphasis on the transport sector and the electronics / electronics industry. In contrast, Turkey's infrastructure market is booming, while the oil and gas industries in Norway and Sweden are performing strongly.
On the positive side, production has not declined in any of the European regions reviewed. Southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy all had above-average economic growth rates this year. Since 2012, the production of Spain and Portugal has been obviously stable, and has been increasing recently. Germany remains the European leader in composites, with a total output of 229,000 tons in 2018.
Market growth in Eastern European countries is 2.5% above average. In the three Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), Scandinavia, Austria, and Switzerland, the reported levels remained unchanged and were therefore below average. Production in the UK and Ireland increased by only 1.3%.
In addition to the established materials for series production (such as SMC / BMC and thermoplastics), the established continuous processes (such as pultrusion) have once again become the focus of attention.
Different market segments also bring hope for increasing FRP output. GFRP has great application potential in antenna structures and building cladding. Composite materials have played a key role in the growing concept of lightweight construction in the aerospace sector. The energy sector is also expanding and has become more important in recent years. This trend will continue for many years.
Due to the versatility of GFRP and other composite materials and the extraordinary applicability of combining with other materials, they have outstanding potential in many applications. However, knowledge of these materials is still very limited, and policy makers cannot consider them extensively. This situation must change, because combination is usually a good choice, if not better. If customers can re-evaluate compliance of these materials and composites with standards / specifications, the European market will grow faster than ever in the next few years.
China accounts for more than half of the world's total construction, which is the main driving force for composite materials. In the past 10 years, the huge demand for advanced materials in the fast-growing automotive, railway, construction, and wind energy industries has revolutionized China's composite materials industry. Significant progress has been made in raw materials, sandwich core materials and auxiliary materials, manufacturing processes, molds, design technologies and applications.
China's glass fiber reinforced plastics industry did not start until around 1995, and the US composite materials industry has been fully developed since the early 1970s. In the rapid development of the past 20 years, China has become the world's largest producer and supplier of glass fiber. Today, the market size of China's glass fiber composites industry is twice that of the United States. China's main vertical sectors using FRP include electricity, transportation, construction, water treatment, wind energy, and chemicals.
Glass fiber production capacity has reached 3.85 million tons, of which China Boulder, Taishan Glass Fiber and Chongqing International Composites account for more than 60%. There are nearly 5,000 composite material manufacturers in China, and the annual shipment of glass fiber composite materials is 4.62 million tons.
The research, development, and commercialization of carbon fiber by the Chinese industry is about 35 years behind the industrialized countries, and the market is still in its infancy. In 2000, the Chinese government and industry began investing in carbon fiber production. In 2017, only seven companies were able to produce more than 1,000 tons of carbon fiber per year to meet the needs of the Chinese domestic market. China's carbon fiber industry still has a large gap with industrialized countries in terms of quantity, quality, performance, and applications. At present, China's CFRP composite materials are almost equivalent in sports and leisure products and general industries such as wind energy, automobiles, transportation and construction.
Although the market started late, China's carbon fiber output in 2017 reached 5,700 tons of shipments with imported carbon fibers, which can meet the domestic market demand of 23,487 tons. The future looks bright. China has the largest production of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers, which will allow the polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fiber and composite materials industry to continue to expand in the next decade.
The development of China's composite materials industry and the significant increase in market penetration have provided huge opportunities for overseas companies. Take the Chinese wind energy market as an example: in the past 10 years, the Chinese wind power industry has grown at an average rate of 41% per year. By 2017, the installed wind power capacity will reach 188 million kilowatts. The industry's goal is to reach a total installed capacity of 200 million kilowatts by 2020, of which offshore installed capacity is 30 million kilowatts. All major wind energy companies have operations in China, including Vestas, General Electric, Siemens Gamesa and LM Wind Power.
China's composite materials industry is expected to usher in a turning point in two years, when domestic carbon fiber production will exceed imports. Many companies will have high-performance carbon fiber (T700 / T800 / T1000) production lines and plan to meet technical challenges to ensure that domestic products compete with imported products.
In order to promote the widespread application of composite materials, the Chinese composite materials industry is studying low-cost design and manufacturing technologies, structural multifunctional integration technologies, environmentally friendly materials, repair and transformation technologies, and recycling technologies. As the advantages of composite materials spread more widely, especially among downstream end users, the industry will also benefit. In addition, automated production, modern management and large-scale production, coupled with strict quality assurance and quality control, and the continuous expansion of various markets, will certainly make China's composite materials industry