JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015 - 21

Market

carbon fibre

In the starting blocks
This new annual briefing on carbon fibres follows on from last
year's article: «Many growth drivers for carbon fibre» (JEC Composites Magazine #88 April 2014). The growth in demand shows
no signs of letting up, and in the future we are very likely to see
new partnerships being forged between the heavyweights of the
carbon fibre and the automotive industries. This is just the beginning.

ince our last update, several major
announcements have been made.
Mitsubishi Rayon announced in June
2014 that it wished to double its production
capacities in the United States, increasing
them to 4000 metric tons (MT) annually by
mid-2016. Its parent company, Mitsubishi
Chemical Holdings Group, announced at the
start of the year that it intended to consolidate
the carbon fibre activities of its subsidiaries
(Mitsubishi Rayon producing PAN-based
fibres and Mitsubishi Plastics producing
pitch-based fibres) under a single banner in
April 2015. Toray launched its PAN production unit in southern France in September,
and Hexcel announced that it was investing
€250 million in a new PAN and carbon
fibre precursor production site in Roussillon, France (near Lyon), which should be
operational in early 2018. Toray and Hexcel
are mainly targeting the aerospace sector with
these investments.

- In the starting blocks .... p21
- Strategic project for a
cost-effective carbon fibre
supply chain ................ p24

MT in 2018 (the theoretical capacity is what
is considered possible at production output,
taking account of the various phases in
production and grade changes, although the
actual reality can sometimes be significantly
different).
The nominal capacity estimates for large-tow
PAN-based fibres are 32,000 MT in 2014
to 44,500 MT in 2018. Their theoretical
capacity is expected to grow from 28,800 MT
in 2014 to 40,000 MT in 2018. The fewer
numbers of grades, and therefore the greater
process continuity, explains in part the greater
«theoretical» yield.
As far as pitch-based fibres are concerned,
it is estimated that in the mid-term the
nominal production capacities are not likely
to increase, and will remain at a level of 1640
MT between 2014 and 2018.
For carbon fibres used in composites as a
whole therefore, the estimated total nominal
capacity is 125,000 MT in 2014 and 188,720
MT in 2018, giving respective «theoretical»
capacities of 94,300 and 140,794 MT.

Production capacities

Supply-demand
convergence

Production capacities are therefore on the
rise (see tables 1 to 4 - publisher's own data),
with new production units under construction and in the pipeline.
The nominal capacities for small-tow PANbased fibres are expected to grow from 91,360
MT in 2014 to 143,630 MT in 2018. As for
the theoretical capacities, these are likely to
increase from 63,950 MT in 2014 to 100,500

It is estimated that the global demand for
fibres was 52,900 MT in 2014, and should
climb to 90,500 MT in 2018 (publisher's
own data). The growth in demand is likely to
be generated for the most part by automotive,
wind energy, pressure vessels and aerospace.
We might be led to conclude from this that
there is high overcapacity of supply with
respect to demand, but the truth is different. If
No96 April 2015 / jec

composites magazine

http://www.jeccomposites.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #96 - April 2015