Carbon Fiber Cost: Factors That Influence The Most

Compared to other highly-durable materials, carbon fiber is pricey. But this is changing. Industrial-grade carbon fiber used to cost as much as $15 per pound; now it can cost as little as $7 per pound.

How is this possible? Carbon fiber cost factors are undergoing increasing advancement. This is lowering the price of raw material, production, and technology.

Wondering what other factors go into determining the price of carbon fiber? Then keep reading.

1. Raw Materials

Carbon fiber is what’s known as a composite material. Composite materials are made of two or more products, and the cost of these products helps determine carbon fiber’s ultimate price. Carbon fiber is a composite of multiple materials, including:

• Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)
• Rayon
• Pitch

Luckily, the manufacturing industry has been hard at work on new methods and raw materials to reduce carbon fiber costs. For example, researchers are developing more reactive resins to cut down the time it takes to produce carbon fiber.

2. Energy

Another carbon fiber cost factor is energy. Once manufacturers create the resin fibers from PAN and other precursors, they treat these fibers with chemicals, heat, and stretching. Then, fibers carbonize, reinforced with carbon atoms.

It takes a lot of energy to reinforce each fiber with carbon atoms. Energy, also required to bundle the carbon together into fibers and threads. Energy costs are probably the most expensive factor in carbon fiber manufacturing.

3. Production

Production for carbon fiber include things like labor and machinery.

Making carbon fiber is a highly-specialized process. For that reason, not just anyone can work as a carbon fiber manufacturer.

The machinery needed to produce carbon fiber is also quite advanced. These machines can cost thousands of dollars, driving up the price of the end product.

The good news is that, like most manufacturing industries, carbon fiber producers are finding new ways to automate production. With fewer skilled workers needed and advanced technology that doesn’t need to be replaced as often, it’s no wonder the cost is on the decline.

4. Software and Technology

Manufacturing and assembly machines aren’t the only technology cost factors to consider. New composite manufacturing software is coming out on the market. For example:

• Design simulation software to reduce the design cycle time
• Cost modeling software to analyze sources of lost efficiency
• Knowledged-based engineering products to lower labor costs

Software providers are also introducing products to help identify manufacturing risks upfront. This will reduce costly mistakes before they happen, further reducing cycle times and carbon fiber manufacturing costs.

The Carbon Fiber Cost is Dropping

Raw materials, energy, and production software and technology are the biggest factors during manufacturing. With recent modern advances, though, the total cost to produce carbon fiber is on the decline.

Are you searching for a carbon fiber composite manufacturer? You’ve come to the right place. Get in touch with SMI Composites today to find out how we can help lower your costs for carbon fiber.

This year, new production capacity focused on releasing demand fell slightly compared to last year, known as the "king of new materials" carbon fiber prices appear unilateral downward trend, from the end of October, the main products fell about 40%. According to industry insiders said: "now pile up inventory, weak demand, predict the industry at least two years will not improve."

📊 Price Trends of Domestic Carbon Fiber Products in China

From the perspective of price, since the beginning of this year, the main domestic carbon fiber products compared to the beginning of the year fell nearly 40%. According to Shanghai Steel Union data show that by the end of October, small tow carbon fiber T300 (12K) price of 11.90USD/kg, down 39% compared with the beginning of the year; T700 (12K) price of 20.30USD/kg, down 37% compared with the beginning of the year; large tow carbon fiber T300 (48K / 50K) price of 10.08USD/kg, the price of the beginning of the year also fell nearly 40%.

In addition, due to the price, the performance of domestic head carbon fiber enterprises are also affected to varying degrees, gross margins are down.

🔬 The Unique Properties of Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber is as thin as a hair, as light as a feather, has a diameter of only 5 to 7 microns, is about one-tenth as thick as a human hair, and has a density of about a quarter of the density of steel. At the same time, it is as strong as steel. A bundle of T1000 grade carbon fibers weighing just 0.5 grams and one meter long can withstand a tensile force of around 500 kilograms.

Due to their superior mechanical properties as well as their corrosion and oxidation resistance, rust resistance and other characteristics, carbon fibers are now added to resins, metals, ceramics, concrete and other materials to become an important reinforcing material for the production of advanced composite materials. The scope of application is becoming wider and wider and has become the "king of new materials" among the people.

📉 Recent Trends in the Carbon Fiber Industry in China

As an important market for carbon fiber, China used to rely heavily on the import of carbon fiber, the price of which is very high. Therefore, carbon fiber is also known as "black gold". At that time, T700 grade high-performance carbon fiber was sold on the market at a high price of several million dollars per ton. Later, when domestic high-performance carbon fibers "blossomed", the international market price of carbon fibers was expected to fall.

In the past two years, China's carbon fiber industry has grown at a fast pace. At present, carbon fiber prices "diving", supply and demand imbalance may be one of the main reasons:

• Lower demand. 2023 September domestic carbon fiber output consumption of 4197.7 tons, a year-on-year decline of 7.8%, a decline of 13.0%, the current consumer demand slowdown.
• Supply is abundant. Data show that in 2022, domestic carbon fiber production capacity reached 112,000 tons, supply exceeded imports for the first time. 2023 supply-side expansion has continued, a number of capacity under construction one after another, including Jilin Chemical Fibre 12,000 tons of compound carbide line, Zhongfujing Shengying 25,000 tons, etc., the total domestic production capacity of carbon fiber has reached nearly 120,000 tons / year, a year-on-year increase of nearly 4%. In terms of planning, according to statistics, the domestic production capacity to be built in the next three years is more than 200,000 tons (the global demand for carbon fiber in 2022 is only 135,000 tons).

🔗 Technological Advancements and Applications

Technology, after years of development China has basically built a complete carbon fiber industry chain system. The key to filling the short board in the future, forging the long board is to comprehensively improve the maturity of technology, especially in the original filament process, defect control, auxiliary equipment and other key technologies to achieve the existing production line to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and accelerate the breakthrough of high-end products.

🚲 Expanding Applications in Various Industries

Application, carbon fiber applications are promising to develop a number of areas with great potential for development, and the layout of the domestic market is one of the way out, from baseball bats, tennis rackets, bicycles, cars, wind turbine blades, and then to large aircraft, carrier rockets, carbon fiber, the application of this new material can further expand high-end industrial manufacturing and advanced science and technology fields.

🎐Rotor blades for wind turbines

The application of carbon fiber blades has become a trend. In recent years, the domestic wind power installed capacity is growing rapidly, the National Energy Board's latest data show that in the first seven months of this year, the domestic wind power installed capacity of 26.31 million kilowatts, the cumulative installed capacity of 390 million kilowatts. With the arrival of parity era, the trend of large wind turbine is particularly prominent, the highest capacity of onshore wind turbines over 10 megawatts, offshore wind turbines over 18 megawatts of capacity, the blade length is also constantly refreshing the industry record.

Rapid large-scale to bring the fan blade material performance to a new test, the traditional glass fiber composite material performance is insufficient, carbon fiber has become the latest "potential stock".

🚲 The Bicycle and Two-Wheeler Industry

Carbon fiber is reshaping the bicycle industry, enhancing cyclist speed with its lightweight and robust features. It's pivotal for the two-wheeler market, especially in China's cities and towns. The surge in clean energy has led to the exploration of hydrogen two-wheelers. The "2023 Hydrogen Storage and Hydrogen Two-wheeled Vehicle Coupling Development Salon," scheduled for December 14, 2023, in Hangzhou, will delve into these developments, focusing on the hydrogen two-wheeler market and industrial chain growth.

🚗 Carbon Fiber in the Automotive Industry

Once limited to niche markets like aerospace and sports cars, carbon fiber is now gaining traction in the broader automotive industry, thanks to technological advancements and cost reductions. Its lightweight yet strong properties align well with energy-saving and emission-reducing goals. Key industry players are focusing on integrating carbon fiber into various auto parts to achieve significant weight reduction. The industry is collaboratively working to address technical challenges and find cost-effective solutions. This shift is further supported by the increasing interest in new energy vehicles and carbon fiber's potential in hydrogen storage applications. The overall aim is to create efficient, high-quality, and lighter vehicles for the future.