The boom of the glass fiber industry is rising, a new wave of price increases is coming
Benefiting from the recovery of downstream demand, the glass fiber industry ushered in an industry boom cycle in the third quarter of 2020, and the price increase of glass fiber roving and electronic yarn products continued until the second quarter of 21. Now that we have entered the peak season of “Golden Nine and Silver Ten”, fiberglass companies have been shipping well, and the cost increase in August has promoted the launch of fiberglass price increases.
Due to the recent sharp increase in raw material, energy and labor costs, especially the price increase of natural gas is unexpected, the manufacturing cost of glass fiber products has risen sharply. The specific variety adjustments are as follows: the increase of thermoset direct yarns shall not be less than 200 yuan/ton; the increase of thermoplastic reinforced yarns and glass fiber products shall not be less than 300 yuan/ton; the increase of ply yarns and chopped strands shall not be less than 400 yuan/ton .
According to the survey, the prices of pool kiln companies increased slightly in early September, but no notice was issued. Seeing this, is there a familiar feeling over your face? The same third quarter, the same price increase, this year’s fiberglass market was once again ignited.
Demand in the field of new energy grows, glass fiber products are in short supply
In the first half of the year, the glass fiber industry maintained a relatively high degree of prosperity, and demand in different fields continued to grow. At the beginning of 2021, the electronic-grade glass fiber market, which is dominated by the PCB industry, and the chopped strand market represented by reinforced thermoplastic materials began to recover, showing a trend of short supply; beginning in the second quarter, glass fiber roving has also entered short supply. status. With the requirements of the dual-carbon target, the demand for new energy vehicles and wind power installed capacity has increased, and high-end products such as thermoplastics and wind power are expected to grow faster.
In the wind power industry, wind power blades are gradually developing in the direction of large size and light weight. As the length of the blades of onshore wind turbines enters the era of 100 meters, glass fiber will be obtained on the blades due to the characteristics of light weight, high strength and good corrosion resistance of composite materials. Use more. Generally, 1GW wind power blades require 10,000 tons of glass fiber. Increased fan capacity and larger blades are expected to drive the increase in glass fiber consumption. According to the latest data released by the Energy Administration, from January to June 2021, the newly installed capacity of wind power in China was 10.84GW, a year-on-year increase of 71.5%, and a year-on-year increase of 19.3% from January to June 2019, confirming that the scale of newly installed wind power in 2021 remains strong the trend of. It is estimated that the domestic wind power installed capacity in 2022 will increase by at least about 10GW compared to 2021. According to the 1GW fiberglass demand of 10,000 tons, domestic wind power will drive a growth of more than 100,000 tons of fiberglass demand in 2022, which is equivalent to a 15-year increase in current demand year-on-year. 25%. In addition, international leading wind power companies such as Vestas have full orders. It is expected that overseas wind power installed capacity demand will also increase year-on-year in 2022.
In the new energy automotive industry, glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite materials are an excellent choice for lightweight vehicles, and are used in automotive parts including power and chassis systems, interior and exterior trim parts; electronic-grade glass fiber is mainly used for the production of PCB copper clad laminates. PCB copper clad laminates are mainly used for electronic circuit boards in automobiles and electronic products. According to the statistical analysis of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the new energy vehicle market in July 2021 showed the characteristics of “not low in the off-season”. Production and sales continued to grow month-on-month and year-on-year, and both hit record highs. In July 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 284,000 and 271,000 respectively, representing a month-on-month increase of 14.3% and 5.8%, and a year-on-year increase of 1.7 times and 1.6 times. From January to July 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.504 million and 1.478 million, respectively, a year-on-year increase of two times. With the further drive of relevant national policies and the change of people’s consumption concept, it is expected that the new energy automobile industry will continue to maintain rapid growth in the next few years. The growth trend of new energy vehicles will continue to drive the growth of the glass fiber industry.
