In 2022, under the background of sluggish demand in the downstream textile market, severe market conditions in the overall chemical fiber market, low prices throughout the year, obviously inadequate industrial operation rate, and pressure on corporate profits, domestic carbon fiber continues to play a unique "plot". This year, the production line is basically running at full capacity, the production and marketing of products are flourishing, enterprises generally earn "pot full bowl full", a number of new projects race against time to catch up...

Small strands stabilize supply to major fields

Aerospace has traditionally been the dominant application area for carbon fiber, using small strands. The directional supply of orders to major customers in the aerospace field is the "ballast stone" and "stabilizer" of China's carbon fiber industry to maintain stable operation every year.

Weihai Guangwei Composite Material Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangwei Composite Material") is a major supplier of carbon fiber for military defense in China. At the end of last year, Guangwei Composite signed a 10-quarter sales contract worth 2.098 billion yuan, from January 2022 to the end of June 2024. In the first three quarters of this year, the operating income of Guangwei Composite material was about 1.94 billion yuan, down 1.17% year-on-year; Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was approximately 750 million yuan, up 21.36 percent year-on-year. Continuous diversification of products and businesses, continuous high investment in research and development, as well as business echelon cultivation and development, are the solid foundation for the company's sound development.

Small silk harness high-end civilian market in short supply

This year, high-end small bundles of carbon fiber such as T700 and T800 are in short supply in the civilian sector.

"There is an outstanding phenomenon in the carbon fiber industry this year. There are a lot of new entrants and new capacity. People are worried that when all this new capacity comes on line, is there going to be more total capacity? In fact, it depends on a case-by-case basis." An industry source said, "From the product point of view, there is less competitive pressure for products of T700 and above this year, because the technical threshold of such products is relatively high and it is difficult to achieve simple and fast replication. The new investment projects are mainly to expand large tow capacity, which can be replicated quickly and on a large scale. In terms of price, the price of high-performance carbon fiber such as T700 and T800 is relatively stable this year, basically in the range of 220 yuan/kg to 240 yuan/kg."

Production and sales of large strands are booming but cooling

"Looking back on last year, it was hard to find a trace of domestic large bundles of carbon fiber. Even if the purchase volume is large, or there is a strategic cooperation of the customer, also often from the manufacturer can not get the goods, and the manufacturer's quotation is always rising. "Due to the increase in the actual purchase price relative to the approximate price, some companies experienced a significant increase in the cost of raw materials last year." An industry insider sighed.

This year, the market for large bundles of carbon fiber is still booming, and manufacturers are still making a lot of money.

Jilin Carbon Fiber Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Jilin Carbon Valley") achieved operating revenue of 1.519 billion yuan in the first three quarters, with a year-on-year growth of 110.01%; Attributable net profit was 484 million yuan, up 170.1% year on year. For the whole of last year, its main business revenue was 1.209 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 104.14%; Attributable net profit was 315 million yuan, up 126.09% year on year. In 2020, its net profit was still in the red, with a loss of 300,047,700 yuan.

Jilin Carbon Valley said that this year, the company's products in the industrial and civilian markets to expand the application, raw silk sales increased. With the gradual completion of the new products, the quality of the old and new products continues to improve, the company's main products both prosperous production and sales, the average selling price rose year-on-year, supporting the growth of net profit.

"The 'price competition' in the Chinese market for large bundles of carbon fibers may have already begun." A senior practitioner in the carbon fiber industry said.

Hai'an County Qinfeng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd. specializes in production and sales：polypropylene staple fiber, Polyester Staple Fiber, functional polypropylene short fiber, functional polyester staple fiber, hydrophilic polyester staple fiber,  polypropylene, PP staple fiber, polyester staple fiber.