JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #82 - July 2013 - 23

Source: CCIA

Fig. 2: FRP output in China mainland

Carbon is
also developing
In terms of volume, the
carbon fibre segment cannot compare with glass, of
course, but there still has
been significant growth.
China’s overall 2011 carbonfibre production capacity
was 8,542 MT, compared
to an estimated 90,000 MT
for the rest of the world.
China’s actual total output
was 2,000 MT, compared to
50,000 MT for other countries combined.
China’s main carbon-fibre
user sectors are sports & leisure (65%), industry (28%)
and aerospace (7%).

Overview of key
application markets
The Chinese manned space

Fig. 3: Precursor and carbon fibre capacity

shuttle and large aircraft
programmes provide great
opportunities for the
development of advanced
composite materials and
related technologies. China
is in fact a key player in the
development of the global
aerospace sector and will
remain so in the near future,
due to its backlog and also
its domestic production.
Now the question is whether the Chinese aerospace
sector can break free and
contribute to innovation.
This issue is also linked to
the ability of local carbonfibre producers to produce
enough at the required
quality.
China has become the larg-

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Thermosets by process
- Filament winding: 730,000 MT, up 4.3% from 2011
- SMC/BMC: 385,000 MT, down 1.3% from 2011 because composite use in commercial vehicles declined
- Pultruded profiles: 255,000 MT, practically the same as 2011
- FRP lighting sheet (transparent panels): 120,000 MT, up 14.3%
from 2011
- Hand lay-up: 760,000 MT, no change
- Vacuum infusion: 370,000 MT, 4.2% rise
- Other: 80,000 MT

est wind energy market.
Its total installed capacity reached 44,733 MW
by the end of 2010, with
2010 added capacity up to
18,900 MW, accounting
for 50% of global addition.
Total installed capacity is
expected to reach 200,000
MW in 2020. In China and
elsewhere, the wind energy
market is dependent on
governmental decisions, so
it is never easy to predict
the future. A slowdown is
expected. China is huge,
however, with energy needs
to match.
Other application sectors
like building & construction, energy, environmental
protection, transportation,
marine, electrical engineering, infrastructure, offshore,
power construction, pipes
& tank and sports & leisure
are all interested in innovative composite solutions to
varying degrees, and always
at competitive prices. The
steady rise in salaries could
have an adverse effect on
the development of the
composite industry, or at
least slow down its growth.
No82 July 2013 /

For now, the Chinese composites association CCIA
is very upbeat, announcing
that in the near future, “the
output of composite products will be much improved.
Annual growth rate will be
higher than 9%. It is predicted that total FRP output
will reach 6 million MTs,
including 3.7 million MT of
thermosets and 2.3 million
MT of FRTP”.
So all sectors are contributing to varying degrees to the
development of the composite industry in terms of
volume. Given the challenges facing the sector (prices,
process output rates,
quality, innovation), is the
growth due mainly to GDP
growth, or to a higher penetration rate of composites
into the different application sectors? As we observe
the economy slowing down
somewhat, the question is
not a trivial one. n

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #82 - July 2013

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