The demand for airliners (particularly lightweight, fuel-efficient ones) is causing a supply crunch of a different kind. Carbon fiber, the matrix that gives composite material its outsized strength, has quadrupled in price to $20 a pound because of Boeings and Airbuss increased use of it in aircraft. “Boeing and Airbus are scarfing up what’s available,” Mike Musselman, editor of High Performance Composites magazine, told USA Today. “The rest of the folks get what’s left.” Most of the airframe on Boeings new 787 Dreamliner is composite, and composite components have long been used on Airbus aircraft. Carbon fiber producers are responding by increasing production and prices. Zoltek spokesman Kevin Scholt said his company has tripled production in the past year. “We’ve been able to raise prices significantly in a two-year time frame,” he said. The shortage is hitting a wide spectrum of products that also benefit from the materials light weight and high strength, including the auto industry and sporting goods manufacturers making everything from hockey sticks to bicycles.
Carbon Fiber Shortage Drives Up Prices
Key Takeaways:
- Increased demand for lightweight, fuel-efficient aircraft from the aerospace industry, notably the Boeing 787 and Airbus, is causing a severe carbon fiber supply crunch.
- This surge in demand has quadrupled carbon fiber prices to $20 per pound, with major aircraft manufacturers consuming most of the available material.
- The shortage and price hikes are impacting other industries reliant on carbon fiber, such as automotive and sporting goods, prompting producers to increase both production and prices.
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