China’s first mass production of carbon fiber breaks the monopoly held by the US and Japan: international market prices plummet!

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China’s first mass production of carbon fiber breaks the monopoly held by the US and Japan: international market prices plummet! Source: Xilu Dongfang** Author: akaaaa Date: 2009-02-02 17:24:32 After more than 30 years of research, carbon fiber technology was produced on a commercial scale in China for the first time, breaking the dominance previously held by the United States and Japan; as a result, the international price of carbon fiber dropped by nearly half. 　　Yesterday, the first phase of the project to produce 10,000 tons of carbon fiber at this company that specializes in the mass production of carbon fiber, Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongfu Shenying”), was officially put into operation in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, enabling a production capacity of 1,000 tons of carbon fiber per year. Song Zhiping, chairman of the board of its major shareholder China National Building Materials Corporation (03323.HK), said this represents a groundbreaking advancement by the company in the field of research and development of high-tech materials. 　　Ranging from 20 tons to 1,000 tons, carbon fiber is a new type of high-performance fiber-reinforced material that has been a key project for research and development as well as the industrialization of science and technology since the \"Sixth Five-Year Plan\" period. Due to its properties such as high strength, high modulus, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity, carbon fiber is widely used in aircraft and automobile manufacturing as well as in civilian applications. Previously, carbon fiber production had been dominated by the United States and Japan. 　　The predecessor of Zhongfu Shenying was Shenying New Materials Co., Ltd., a joint venture established by Lianyungang Yingyou Textile Machinery and Jiangsu Aoshen Group. The carbonization production line came online in May 2007, with a carbon fiber production volume of only around 20 tons. On October 24 of last year, through an increase in capital and expansion of shares, China Composite Materials Group, which is part of China Building Materials, joined forces with the other two parties to establish Zhongfu Shenying; China Composite Materials Group became the largest shareholder with 45% of the shares. 　　According to Zhang Dingjin, chairman of China Composite Materials Group, as reported by Yicai Daily, after joining forces, China Composite Materials quickly established a 1,000-ton industrialization project. From the start of construction on October 30 last year until its commissioning yesterday, the project built new production lines for 2,500 tons of polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fiber precursor and 1,000 tons of carbonization products. Zhang Dingjin emphasized that 100% localization has been achieved, from equipment to products. Zhongfu Shenying has established a production capacity that enables the manufacture of 3,200 tons of precursor filaments and 1,220 tons of carbon filaments per year. 　　 The next goal for Zhongfu Shenying is to start working on the T700 carbon fiber project beginning next year, and to build a production line with a capacity of 2,000 tons. To this end, a target of 10,000 tons has been set: to reach a production capacity of 3,000 tons within 2 years, and 10,000 tons within 3 to 5 years. By then, a carbon fiber production giant will emerge in China. To this end, the three shareholders plan to invest 3 billion yuan. 　　Lowering international market prices It is worth noting that after Zhongfu Shenying announced it had reached a production capacity of thousands of tons of carbon fiber, the international market prices for carbon fiber, which had been monopolized by foreign companies, dropped immediately. The original price of T300 was 400 yuan per kilogram, while the original price of T700 was around 800 yuan; currently, both prices have been reduced by nearly half. "Based on this performance, the achievement of mass production in China is of great significance for domestic companies to reduce their reliance on imports and lower production costs. "Zhang Dingjin said. 　　 Since 2000, global demand for carbon fiber has risen rapidly, leading to a supply shortage. In 1995, the global production of carbon fiber was 14,500 tons; by the end of 2005 it had increased to 21,000 tons. It is estimated that by 2010 global demand will reach 45,000 tons, with an annual growth rate of 10%–12%. 　　 In Zhang Dingjin’s view, the rapid expansion of production capacity is due to the huge market potential. Most of Zhongfu Shengying’s products will be supplied to Zhongfu Lianzhuo, which is part of China Composites and manufactures wind turbine blades. Yesterday, Zhongfu Lianzhong announced that 2-megawatt wind turbine blades have been successfully produced, making the company one of those with the highest manufacturing capacity for megawatt-class blades per facility in the world; these two companies will achieve significant synergies. 　　Last year, the American company Boeing introduced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the world’s first commercial jet aircraft whose main structural material is carbon fiber composite. According to Boeing at the time, the large size of individual carbon fiber airframe components allows for a reduction in the number of parts required for assembling the airframe ； Since carbon fiber materials reduce the weight of aircraft, fuel consumption is also reduced by about 20% compared to passenger planes of the same size. Zhang Dingji revealed that Zhongfu Shenying’s carbon fiber could also be considered for use in the production of commercial aircraft in the future. 　　 Regarding future investments and capacity expansion, insiders at China Building Materials have indicated that the possibility of bringing in strategic investors cannot be ruled out. At present, China National Building Materials Group has established listed business segments in cement, lightweight building materials, glass fiber, and engineering services; in the future, the carbon fiber industry may also become available for listing. This post was last edited by wivern on 2009-3-4 21:06]