Carbon fiber has a minimum carbon content of 95% and can be as high as 99%.
It's hard to imagine something almost entirely made of carbon, which is five times harder than steel, but much lighter than metal.
And it also has non-flammable properties.
Therefore, it is widely used, not only in the civilian field has a large application, but also is an indispensable raw material in high-tech materials, so that in national defense weapons and equipment, it belongs to the strategic material.
With so many functions, carbon fiber has a nickname in the material world - black gold.
Just give an example to make it clear.
In 2015, a solar-powered aircraft called Solar Impulse 2 was launched.
The fuselage of this aircraft is made of carbon fiber material.
With a wingspan of 72 meters and a flight altitude of 8,500 meters, the solar panels are only as thick as a human hair, and look like a big dragonfly, but the price is very expensive.
The market for carbon fiber
Carbon fiber was developed in the United States and Japan, which used polyacrylonitrile to make carbon fiber in 1959.
After the emergence of carbon fiber, it can be said that it has been making great progress, and in 1970, the United States Carbide Corporation and Japan reached a cooperation agreement, and since then the field of carbon fiber has basically been monopolized by the United States and Japan.
In fact, even today, the United Carbide Corporation of the United States and Japan are still the world's most powerful carbon fiber development companies.
For a long time, the United States and Japan have occupied 85% of the carbon fiber market.
So what is the situation of carbon fiber in China?
After the advent of carbon fiber, China began to challenge carbon fiber in 1962.
But China's carbon fiber can be said to be all the way twists and turns, not to mention anything else, just say that the 1984 Paris Coordination Treaty, the restrictions and blockade imposed on China, so that China's carbon fiber research into a predicament.
Until the beginning of this century, China's carbon fiber technology was basically standing still, and there was no technological breakthrough.
The carbon fiber provided to China in Western countries is usually provided in two ways, one is to notify the price increase, and the other is to give a point if you think of it, and if you can't think of it, hehe, according to the written word, it is a rewarding offer.
There is no way, things are in the hands of others, even if they are not convinced, they don't take it seriously.
Just give an example to make it clear.
In 2015, Japan arrested the management of a trading company, and all three people, including the chairman, were arrested on suspicion of exporting carbon fiber, which is strictly restricted from export, to China.
In 2010, the trading company passed through Busan, South Korea, to export 3,500 kilograms of carbon fiber to China.
This shows how severe the restrictions on China were at that time.
There is no way, at this point in time, the three Japanese companies of carbon fiber small bundle yarn occupy 70% of the market share, and the large bundle of yarn is controlled by three companies in Japan, the United States and Germany, which occupy 80% of the market share.
Therefore, carbon fiber can be said to be in the hands of the supplier, and what it says is what it is.
Faced with this situation, a company that made fishing gear was furious.
I can't help but ask, what does people's high-precision carbon fiber have to do with your fishing gear company?
The relationship is big.
The taste of fishing friends is getting higher and higher, and they have long abandoned the fishing method of a bamboo rod, a hanging line, and a hook.
It also pays attention to high technology, the bamboo pole is too heavy, the toughness is not good, and it is easy to break when catching a big fish.
Therefore, it is required to have a fishing rod with light weight and high toughness.
If there is a demand, there will be a market, if you want to make high-end fishing gear, carbon fiber is indispensable, it is lighter than iron, only a quarter of the weight of iron, but the strength is ten times that of iron (mentioned above is steel), and there is a high elasticity.
So what is the result of Guangwei's anger?
The development of Guangwei
It is said that in 1987, a town-run enterprise was about to go bankrupt.
At that time, a man named Chen Guangwei took over the business.
It turned out that he had served as a brigade captain and village party secretary in Tiancun Town, and later became deputy director of the Political Work Office.
He took over the business, in fact, it should be called a critical order.
When you take over the company, you have to think about the product and what to do well.
As a result, he chose fishing tackle, which at the time was still a blank industry in China.
Since it is a blank industry, there is no equipment for making fishing tackle in China, and there is one abroad, but the company has no money, otherwise it will not go bankrupt.
Therefore, Chen Guangwei took the backbone of the enterprise to ponder the problem of the fishing tackle production line, which is the spirit of the older generation, the goal is determined, what obstacles, creepers are all stepping stones under the feet.
It took more than 150 days to develop China's first fishing rod production line.
As a result, the predecessor of Guangwei Group, Weihai Fishing Rod Factory, was born.
By 1997, they had produced 10 million rods, making them the largest rod manufacturer in the world.
The quantity has gone up, but the quality has also kept up, which has encountered carbon fiber, which is monopolized by Japan and the United States.
It was okay at first, Guangwei bought, and Japan sold.
It was originally a win-win model of mutual benefit, but as a result, Japan raised the price of carbon fiber from time to time, and he did not notify him in advance, basically he just wanted to rise, and gave temporary notice.
Forget it, you can only readjust the price, after all, companies need profits.
But on the other hand, it's a little unbearable, for example, Guangwei wants 300 kilograms of carbon fiber, but it turns out that there are 300 kilograms in hand, just less or less, or simply nothing.
This is not good, he supplies according to his emotions, and Guangwei, as a company, cannot receive goods stably for a long time, so this business cannot be done.
So in 1998, Chen Guangwei simply introduced a carbon fiber production line for production, without relying on foreign objects.
It is also this move that allows China to produce carbon fiber prepreg in a real sense for the first time.
Since then, Chen Guangwei's investment in the field of carbon fiber can be said to be out of control.
Since 2002, Guangwei Group has invested more than 4 billion yuan in the research and development of carbon fiber, and has also borrowed about 2 billion yuan during the period.
For the sake of carbon fiber, Chen Guangwei even mortgaged the house.
In Guangwei Group, the investment in scientific and technological research and development has always accounted for a large proportion, and the research and development expenses have basically been increasing.
They also carry out joint research and development with more than 10 domestic universities and research institutes.
First of all, the first breakthrough was the development of T300 carbon fiber in 2004, which gave China the ability to produce carbon fiber for the first time.
Of course, this is just the beginning, and if you want to industrialize mass production, you have to move forward.
After all, the equipment also needs to be tackled, otherwise it will still be stuck as before, but it is just replaced by carbon fiber and equipment.
It was not until 2008 that the localization of carbon fiber equipment was realized.
Step by step, Guangwei Group has become the main supplier of carbon fiber materials for national defense.
But unfortunately, in April 2017, Chen Guangwei passed away.
Of course, his belief has always been in this enterprise.
Although Guangwei Group can produce carbon fiber, carbon brazing also has a distinction between low-end, mid-range and high-end.
For example, T1100 grade carbon fiber could not be produced in China for a long time.
Then Japan can ask for a sky-high price on this level of materials, and even designate a few companies to use it, and the rest cannot be used.
The T1100 grade of carbon fiber looks high-end, but in fact, there are already more advanced T1200 in Japan, and of course it is still in the experimental stage, and there is a certain gap from mass production.
Guangwei has been deeply cultivated in the field of carbon fiber, and has been chasing, from the very beginning of T300, to T800, followed by T1000, and now T1100 is locked.
Therefore, high-end products in the field of carbon fiber are still not good.
Take the fishing tackle that started with Kowei as an example, when it comes to good fishing rods, it will basically be introduced that they are made of materials from Toray in Japan, and the price is very expensive.
Although it is expensive, the most profitable piece was cut by Japan's Toray.
The rod is made of T1100 carbon fiber.
Guangwei has been chasing from T300, and by the end of 2023, Guangwei Group announced that T1100 carbon fiber has passed the acceptance and will achieve large-scale mass production in 2024.
So according to this trend, breaking through the monopoly of the United States and Japan should not be far away, whether it can lead carbon fiber I don't know, but there should be no problem in entering the first echelon.
However, for the T1100 carbon fiber fishing rod, anglers still need to be patient for some time, after all, the T1100 carbon brazing that has just been produced is unlikely to be used to produce fishing rods.
The thirst for all walks of life is higher than that of fishing rods, such as aerospace, military industry, and so on.
So the T1100 grade carbon fiber rod is a little further back.
But it is believed that the T1100-level carbon fiber fishing rod should have a round of big price reduction.
There are still benefits.
After about two years, everyone has a T1100 carbon fiber fishing rod and sits on the edge of the fish pond to fish.
What is the saying?
You ignored me yesterday, and you can't afford to climb me today.
Of course, there must be the necessary humility, after all, people have already begun to launch quantitative challenges on the T1200 class of carbon fiber.
The current market for carbon fiber in China
In the carbon fiber market, the leadership of international giants still accounts for a large proportion, and the production capacity of the top five companies accounts for 57% of the share.
Between 2021 and 2022, about 151,000 tonnes of new global capacity was added, largely led by China.
In 2013, the localization rate was less than 10%, but by 2021 this figure had increased to about 47%.
There are also more and more companies involved in the carbon fiber industry.
In 2013, there were nearly 40 enterprises that were building or had built carbon fiber precursor production lines.
At the same time, carbon fiber production in other countries has also made great progress.
For example, a company in Turkey only started to get involved in carbon fiber in 2007, and it took six years to upgrade its products from A42 to A49 in one fell swoop, and the products were also exported to China.
In 2013, 1,500 tons were sold in China, which is equivalent to the sales of all carbon fiber companies in China in the same year.
Therefore, China's carbon fiber is improving, and the development of other countries in this field is not too much.