Rising Growth of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Market
The global carbon fiber reinforced plastic market is estimated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 7.76% from UD$20.553 billion in 2019 to UD$34.690 billion in 2026.
Carbon fiber reinforced plastic which is also named carbon fiber reinforced polymers are composite materials with strong and lightweight fiber-reinforced plastics which contain carbon fibers. They provide high rigidity and a high strength-to-weight ratio. Due to its properties, it is used in aerospace, automotive, sports equipment, superstructures of ships, and other technical appliances. For instance, 52% of Airbus A350 XWB has been built by carbon fiber reinforced plastic. This includes its fuselage components and spars. Whereas Boeing 787dreamliner aircraft is built with 50% carbon fiber reinforced plastic. It is also used in sports cars. For instance, Formula one was made by using some proportion of carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
Rising demand and improvements in the aerospace industries are expected to drive the carbon fiber reinforced plastic’s market
The carbon fiber reinforced plastic is composed of two materials namely, reinforcement and matrix. The reinforcement is carbon fiber, whereas the matrix is a polymer resin. This composition gives extremely high strength to the applied material. The aerospace industry gives priority to strength while manufacturing aircraft. Similarly, the aerospace industry prefers high performance with lightweight and strong rigidity. CFRP also reduces the fuel economy by 30% in aircraft. Due to the unique feature of carbon fiber reinforced plastic of having a high strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness, it is more commonly referred to as a replacement for alloys and metal in manufacturing by the aerospace industry. Due to the satisfactory performance of carbon fiber reinforced plastic used aircraft in Boeing aircraft, it has decided to manufacture mores such aircraft in future.
Recently, Boeing has announced to deliver 32,270 units of narrow-body aircraft globally during the forecast period. Global aircraft production is expected to grow rapidly in upcoming years. The global aircraft fleet volume is estimated to grow during the next ten years. This will surely have a positive impact on the market size of the carbon fiber reinforced plastic market globally during the same forecast period. Similarly, there are advanced improvements in the field of defense with the increase in its budgets. This is also expected to make use of carbon fiber reinforcement in weapon manufacture. Owing to these factors it has been estimated that aerospace and defense to drive the carbon fiber reinforcement market globally in the upcoming years.
The restraining factor for the CFRP market growth
Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic being a composite material is a very expensive material. Thus is most likely used in the aerospace industry. Although it is very beneficial in the automotive and civil engineering field, its high cost restricts its usage in these areas. This hinders the demand for CFRP from these and other sectors as well. The cheap-rated materials act as a substitute for carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. Moreover, the production of CFRP takes a comparatively longer time with the high technical skills required. Thus, inadequate production skills and capacity are also expected to create an obstacle in the global carbon fiber reinforced plastic market.
Asia-Pacific is estimated to hold a significant share in the CFRP market during the forecast period
On the account of the widespread adoption in the aviation, industrial, and automotive sector in Asian countries like China, India, and Japan, the demand for Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic (CFRP) is rising here. This has paved the way for Asia-Pacific to dominate the CFRP market during the forecast period. China is experiencing a rise in air traffic for the last few years. Due to the high demand for better air connectivity and power, the aircraft market is expected to grow in China. At the same time, China is also working on the improvement of its defense sector. To improve the quality of defense weapons, the requirement of carbon fiber reinforced plastic is expected to rise. This eventually is estimated to increase the market size of the carbon fiber reinforced plastic market during the forecast period.
The automotive production industry in China is one of the largest in the world. Despite the decline in its automotive industry for the last few years since 2018, the strategies by major key players are working to overcome this loss. To increase the strength of the automotive, the use of CFRP is expected to rise in China. This increasing demand for Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic in China is estimated to have a noticeable impact on the CFRP market in the future.
Recent advancements in the Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic market
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in December 2020 announced the planning of the establishment of a new pilot facility in Fukui Prefecture for carbon fiber reinforcement plastic (thermoplastic). This plant is expected to start operating by the end of the year 2021.
In November 2021, Nikkiso Co., Ltd which is situated in Japan, has announced to expand its Busan Korea Facility to hold a marine center. This expansion is done for the growth of the shipbuilding industry. The growth in this sector is expected to grow the demand for carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
Whereas emerging technologies like plasma oxidation and HP-RTM have enhanced the reduction in the raw material cost. And the trends of the reuse of CFRP and reduction in the cost of carbon fiber have also brought opportunities for the wide applications of Carbon fiber reinforcement plastic.
COVID-19 impact on the carbon fiber reinforcement plastic (CFRP) market globally
Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, nearly all the industrial sector faced shut down for almost a year. Restrictions imposed on the social life, there was a halt in the manufacturing and supply activities. This impacted the economy of various industrial sectors. Majorly the CFRP is used for the aircraft manufacturing process. During the Covid-19 period, air connectivity was the foremost sector that was affected as many flights went to a halt and many of them were cancelled all over the world. Thus covid-19 had a severe negative impact on air connectivity therefore this eventually affected the aircraft market globally. The negative impact on the aircraft industry indirectly affected the carbon fiber reinforced plastic market. Thus there was seen a decline in the global carbon fiber reinforced plastic market. However, by the end of 2020, when the air connectivity came at the normal pace, and to overcome the previous loss, many initiatives have been made to build strong aircraft with advanced technology. This advancement and activities by governments of many countries worldwide and market players are estimated to uplift the aircraft market. This is the factor that is expected to contribute to the growth of the carbon fiber reinforced plastic market in the future.
