Current demand growth space of carbon fiber is very considerable.

        The top three areas are wind power blades (36%), sports and leisure (28%) and carbon-carbon composite materials (11%).   

        First of all, in the field of wind power with the largest demand, carbon fiber is used in key structures of wind power blades, such as beam caps, main beams, etc. There are three main processes of carbon fiber girder, which are prepreg process, carbon cloth pouring process and pultruded carbon plate process. As the large-scale wind turbine is the future development trend, the increase of blade length also puts forward new requirements for the strength and stiffness of reinforced materials, and glass fiber gradually shows its performance deficiencies in the manufacture of large-scale composite blades. In order to ensure that the blade tip does not touch the tower under extreme wind loads, the blade must have sufficient stiffness. In the process of upgrading blade products, the replacement role of carbon fiber is becoming more and more prominent in order to reduce the weight of blades and meet the requirements of strength and stiffness. Although the cost of carbon fiber blades has increased, the optimization and weight reduction of related components in the transmission chain and towers have reduced the overall cost of wind turbines by more than 10%. For example, 120m carbon fiber wind turbine blades can reduce the overall weight by 38%, which reduces the overall cost of wind turbines by 14%.     

        According to Wood Mackenzie, it is expected that by 2030, more than 80% of onshore wind power will use carbon fiber pultruded panels, while 100% of offshore wind power will use carbon fiber pultruded panels.

In the future, with the continuous cost reduction and efficiency increase of domestic carbon fibers, the rapid penetration of offshore wind power and the trend of large-scale wind turbines, the agency expects that the penetration rate of carbon fibers will reach 11%/18%/29%/45% from 2022 to 2025, and the corresponding demand for carbon fibers will be 0.75/1.70/3.04/5.19 million tons. From 2021 to 2025, CAGR reached 84.3%. In the long run, the demand for carbon fiber is expected to reach 131,000 tons on the premise that the annual installed capacity of wind power in China will reach 100GW and the penetration rate of carbon fiber for main beam will reach 100%.    

        At the same time, photovoltaic thermal field components also have a significant pulling effect on carbon fibers. In 2021, among the three major markets of carbon-carbon composite materials, the development of brake disc market and aerospace components is relatively stable, while the development momentum of monocrystalline silicon furnace for thermal field components is prominent. According to the data of Polaris Solar Photovoltaic Network, the number of monocrystalline silicon furnaces will soon exceed 30,000, which will provide strong support for the rapid growth of carbon felt functional materials and carbon-carbon composite structural materials such as crucibles, insulation barrels and protective plates. Driven by photovoltaic thermal field, the demand for carbon fiber for carbon-carbon composite materials will reach 13,000 tons, and the CAGR will reach 38.4% in 2021-2025. In addition, driven by hydrogen energy, aerospace, domestic large aircraft, new energy vehicles and other fields, the demand for carbon fiber will usher in considerable growth.   

        According to the 2021 Global Carbon Fiber Composite Market Report, the global demand for carbon fiber is 118,000 tons in 2021, which is expected to reach 240,000 tons by 2025 and 400,000 tons by 2030, with a CAGR of 19.5% in 2021-2025 and 14.5% in 2021-2030.    

        Among them, China's carbon fiber demand will achieve faster demand growth and greater flexibility. According to the Global Carbon Fiber Composite Market Report 2021, the total domestic demand for carbon fiber in 2021 is 62,400 tons, and it is expected to reach 159,200 tons by 2025, with a CAGR of 26.4% and a market space of nearly 25 billion yuan.