Aerospace Carbon Fibre Market

Description

Introduction

Carbon fibre has been trending a lot lately, owing to its sturdiness and light weight. Due to this, it is being increasingly employed in the building and aerospace sectors, gradually ousting older and conventional competition (steel and aerospace, respectively).

Estimated at a total market value of US$ XX in 2017, the global aerospace carbon fibre market is expected to reach a net worth of US$ XX by 2022, registering a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period 2017-2022.
Technology

Carbon fibre are fundamentally long flattened ribbon-like structures that constitute honeycomb shaped carbon crystals aligned in a long axis. These ribbons, in turn, align themselves within fibres, hence earning itself the name. Carbon fibre is both strong and light (at least four times sturdier than steel), and thus has a favourable strength-to-weight ratio. In addition to this, carbon fibre has other favourable properties such as good tensile strength, corrosive resistance, chemically stable, electrically conductive, and more importantly, non-poisonous.

Owing to such characteristics, many sectors and industries have started transitioning into carbon fibre counterparts over conventional materials, not having to worry about upsetting ecological balance while reaping exemplary results at the same time.

Market Dynamics

Recent years have witnessed a slowdown in the aviation sector; however, passenger traffic and aircraft sales have only been experiencing a significant growth in trends. With such trends in line, aircraft models now have transitioned to carbon fibre as a more favourable alternative to aluminium and related alloys for composites. In accordance with the characteristics of carbon fibre as a raw material for aerospace composites, it is used extensively in building hulls, undercarriages, and helicopter rotors. It is also used extensively in commercial aircrafts, wherein weight reduction and management are of utmost importance.

Major drivers of the market’s growth include growing demand for lightweight materials, penetration of carbon fibre in commercial aircraft sectors, wind turbine blades, and other aerospace applications in sectors such as advanced aerospace and military, where quality and functionality precede cost, carbon fibre is expected to replace aluminium as the primary building material in the future.

Market Segmentation

The global aerospace carbon fibre market is segmented into jets, helicopters, and ultra-light aircrafts on the basis of application.

Geographical Analysis

Regionally, the market is segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, and Middle-East and Asia (MEA). North America is the market’s largest regional segment and is expected to remain so. This can be attributed to the region’s high end-user industry density and increasing regional demand for light-weight materials in the aerospace and automotive industries.

In terms of rate of market growth, the Asia-Pacific segment outdoes the other four massively. This comes with the anticipated growth in the regional aviation sector coupled with the increasing focus on high-performance composite materials.

Key players

Key players in the global aerospace carbon fibre market are Aksa, Zoltek, Toray, Mitsubishi Rayon, Toho, SGL Group, Cytec, Hexcel, Formosa Plastic Corporate, and Hyosung.