Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) is a key performance material. In recent years, as its application fields continue to expand, it has attracted wide attention. However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 this year, the future of the industry has been full of uncertainty.
In a new report "The Future of Carbon Fiber Composite Materials" released by Lux Research, it outlines the main challenges and opportunities faced by carbon fiber and CFRP, and how standardization and recycling enable the CFRP market to continue to grow.
At present, the carbon fiber industry is facing three major challenges, namely: weak basic market, fiber standardization and recycling. Drishti Masand, a research assistant at Lux and the lead author of the report, said: “Standardizing fiber and fiber recycling is the key to expanding the CFRP market. Standardization will be the realization of carbon fiber recycling and its expansion into a more global and unified system and supply chain The key to safety. Recycled carbon fiber will expand the market value and create new CFRP applications as a whole without damaging existing applications. With the broader value chain and the opportunities for more companies to manufacture carbon fiber, CFRP The number of companies and industries considered as new material choices will increase."
Masand explained: "The Chinese government has initiated the standardization of precursors, which can promote the transformation of the entire industry, enable enterprises to remain competitive and maintain market share." Lux predicts that, driven by a variety of factors, the CFRP market will Increased to 64 billion US dollars.
The slower-than-expected growth in the aerospace and automotive sectors has weakened the overall forecast demand in this sector and delayed overall growth by four to five years. As the demand for larger turbine blades for offshore applications grows, the wind energy industry will become the largest consumer of CFRP by 2030.
At the same time, from the double blow of the 737 Max production shutdown and the COVID-19 travel ban, the aviation industry's demand for CFRP will take several years to recover. Therefore, Lux Research predicts that thermoset composites will continue to dominate the market and grow at a faster rate than thermoplastics, with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%, compared with 7% for thermoplastics.