Global carbon fiber reinforced plastic market estimated at US$35.75 bln by 2020

The global Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic market (CFRP) is projected to reach US$35.75 bln by 2020, as per MarketsandMarkets. The global Carbon Fiber Market size, in terms of value, is projected to reach US$3.51 bln by 2020, at a CAGR of 9.1% between 2015 and 2020. The global Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Market, in terms of value, is projected to reach US$35.75 bln by 2020, at a CAGR of 9.9% between 2015 and 2020. This growth is fuelled by the increasing production capacities of Boeing and Airbus, rising demand of fuel efficient vehicle, and growing application of CFRP in other application sectors such as sporting goods, civil engineering, and wind energy globally. CF and CFRP are used widely in aircraft components and structures, as their superior strength-to weight ratio significantly exceeds that of any traditional metal. Increasing demand of composites in the production of aircraft components such as floor beams, ailerons, vertical stabilizers, elevators, wings, and engine nacelles is driving CFRP market. For instance, Airbus superjumbo commercial aircraft A380, A350, and Boeing's B-787 are built with carbon fiber composites. Currently, Boeing 787's fuselage is made of carbon fiber, which reduces its weight by 20%. B787 production is expected to increase from 10 units per month to 12 units per month by 2016. Airbus A350 has reportedly already received a great response from different airlines, with Qatar airways and Delta ordering 80 and 25 airplanes, respectively. Apart from this, carbon fiber composites demand is also boosted by its increasingly usage in Blackhawk helicopters, body armor, helmets, holsters, space shuttles, and many other military applications such as radoms, rocket motor casing, fairings, satellites, antenna dishes, and missiles. The North America region is expected to be the largest market for CFRP globally due to the increased demand from aerospace & defense, wind energy, and automotive industry. Along with the existing capacities, several carbon fiber composites manufacturers are expanding their production capacities further such as Hexcel Corporation (U.S.) and Zodiac Aerospace (U.S.) developed new aircraft seat under the name L3 (which refers to living space, lightweight, and lead time). The leading carbon fiber composites manufacturers increased their capacity in North America to meet the growing demand from aerospace & defense, automotive, pipe & tanks, wind, marine, and construction industries. For instance, BMW used carbon fiber in its "i" series and achieved success to reduce the 250-350 kilos [550-770 pounds] weight of the car and increased the fuel efficiency. In line with this, Apple is planning to adopt BMW i3's carbon fiber body for its future electric car. The demand for these cars in North America is projected to continuously increase in the near future and the joint venture between BMW and SGL Group (Germany) is estimated to support this demand by supplying carbon fiber. The lay-up process includes hand lay-up and spray-up process and is the largest manufacturing process for CFRP owing to the developed aerospace & defense industry, growing wind energy application, and recovery of the marine industry at the global level. This process is applicable for designing simple enclosures, lightly loaded structural panels because it provides orientation of the fibers that be controlled as needed so that they can absorb maximum stresses to which they are subjected. Some of the key global players prevailing in the CF and CFRP market are Toray Industries Inc. (Japan), Teijin Limited (Japan), Mitsubishi Rayon Co. Ltd. (Japan), SGL Group (Germany), and Formosa Plastics Corporation (Taiwan). These players adopted various organic and inorganic developmental strategies. For instance, Toray Industries Inc. (Japan) planned to acquire 55% of Delta Tech S.p.A (Italy) to produce and supply high quality prepeg and process carbon fiber for automobile applications.