Localization has been greatly improved, and the layout of carbon fiber faucets has been accelerated

In recent years, China's carbon fiber production capacity has expanded significantly, the capacity utilization rate has increased rapidly, and domestic substitution has accelerated
.

A number of research institutions recently pointed out that in recent years, China's carbon fiber production capacity has expanded significantly, the capacity utilization rate has increased rapidly, and domestic substitution has accelerated
.
As the inner tank of hydrogen storage cylinder, carbon fiber winding composite material is an indispensable key component
in the field of hydrogen storage and transportation.
At present, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been deployed across the country, the demand for on-board hydrogen storage cylinders is becoming increasingly hot, the acceleration of carbon fiber localization and technology improvement will further reduce the cost of hydrogen storage cylinders, which is conducive to the sustainable development of
China's hydrogen energy industry.

Leading enterprises accelerate their layout

Previously, due to the rise in global commodity prices, the price of carbon fiber for imported pressure vessels also rose, resulting in an increase
in the production cost of domestic hydrogen storage cylinders.
For many years, carbon fiber technology for pressure vessels has been monopolized by Japan, the United States, South Korea and other countries, but in recent years, with the acceleration of project layout and technological upgrading of China's leading enterprises, this monopoly situation is gradually being broken
.

Since the beginning of this year, many enterprises in China have successively put into production 10,000-ton carbon fiber expansion projects
.
In August, Jilin Chemical Fiber Group's high-capacity and high-performance 50K large tow carbonization line was put into operation, and the company's total carbon fiber production capacity increased to 35,000 tons
.
In October, the first domestic production line of China's first 10,000-ton 48K large tow carbon fiber project was put into operation in Shanghai Petrochemical Carbon Fiber Industrial Base and produced qualified products
.

With the encouragement and support of policy mechanisms, many places across the country have begun to lay out the upstream and downstream industrial chains
of carbon fiber.
On September 19, Ordos held a signing ceremony for strategic cooperation in the carbon fiber industry chain production base project, through the cooperation of upstream and downstream partners, to promote the landing of 10,000 tons/year high-performance carbon fiber project, the downstream layout of the carbon fiber industry will include an annual output of 100,000 hydrogen storage cylinder production base, an annual output of 30,000 hydrogen fuel heavy truck production base and other projects, the annual output value will exceed 10 billion yuan
.

As China's carbon fiber projects continue to increase, capacity utilization is constantly improving
.
China Merchants Securities pointed out that in recent years, driven by downstream demand, China's carbon fiber production capacity has expanded rapidly, and in 2021, China's carbon fiber operating capacity will be 63,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 75.
41%, accounting for 30.
5% of the global carbon fiber operating capacity, and the production capacity ranks first
in the world.

The localization rate has increased significantly

Behind the efforts of enterprises and localities, policy support
is inseparable.
In 2021, strengthening the R&D and application of carbon fiber and its composite materials will be listed as a key development area in the 14th Five-Year Plan; In April this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission proposed to overcome the preparation technology
of large tow above 48K, high strength, high mold and high extension, T1100 grade, and M65J grade carbon fiber.

According to the reporter, the performance of Shanghai Petrochemical 48K large tow carbon fiber products is comparable to the same level of products outside the United States, and the quality has reached the international advanced level
.
The industry generally believes that Shanghai Petrochemical large tow carbon fiber has successfully moved from key technological breakthroughs, industrial trial production and industrialization to large-scale and localization of key equipment
.

In fact, after long-term technology accumulation, China's domestic carbon fiber leading enterprises represented by Jilin Chemical Fiber, Xinchuang Carbon Valley, Hengshen Co.
, Ltd.
, Guangwei Composite Materials, etc.
are gradually breaking the monopoly of foreign technology, the scale of production capacity is constantly expanding, and the product performance is comparable to the international leader
.
The data shows that the localization rate of carbon fiber has increased from 18.
4% in 2016 to 46.
9% in 2021, and the trend of domestic substitution is obvious
.

China Merchants Securities pointed out that China's domestic carbon fiber is in the import substitution opportunity period, but it is worth noting that there are still many enterprises in the industry that have not yet mastered the core production technology of carbon fiber, there are problems of poor industrial production stability and high cost, and most of the products are around low value-added fields
.
Continuously improving the level of production technology, stabilizing quality and reducing costs is the key to
achieving "from existence to excellence" of domestic carbon fiber.

Industry insiders said that large tow carbon fiber is used to wind gas cylinders, which can improve the winding speed of gas cylinders, effectively improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and with the major breakthrough in domestic carbon fiber technology, China's hydrogen storage and transportation field is expected to usher in a new breakthrough
in development.

Market demand has further increased

The reporter learned that at present, China's vehicle hydrogen storage cylinders are still 35 MPa type III bottles and 35 MPa type IV bottles as mainstream products, but the industry predicts that the domestic hydrogen storage cylinder market will gradually transition
to Type III 70 MPa and Type IV 70 MPa.
A number of research institutions believe that with the accelerated development of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market, the demand for hydrogen storage cylinders will continue to rise, and the amount of carbon fiber is expected to rise
further.

In March, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035) (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which clarifies the development goal
of 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in China by 2025.
Guosheng Securities pointed out that with the large-scale promotion of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, in order to meet the demand for long driving range, the specifications of on-board hydrogen storage cylinders will gradually transition from 35 MPa for type III to 70 MPa for type III or 70 MPa for type IV, and gradually in line with the international technical level
.

Guosheng Securities predicts that based on the average carbon fiber consumption of hydrogen storage cylinders of 60-80 kg, the carbon fiber consumption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in 2022 will be about 2,534 tons, and the carbon fiber consumption will exceed 10,000 tons in 2025, and the total carbon fiber consumption is expected to be 53,600 tons from 2022 to 2025
.

Guojin Securities pointed out that in addition to the application of hydrogen energy, with the development of the new energy industry in recent years, carbon fiber has grown rapidly
in the fields of wind power blades, carbon carbon composite materials, pressure vessels and other fields.
In 2021, the growth rate of carbon fiber domestic demand in the wind power and photovoltaic fields will be 13% and 133%, respectively, and the annual growth rate is expected to reach 19% and 18% in the next four years, respectively, and will reach 45,900 tons and 13,700 tons in 2025
.