A Study on the Industrial Development of Carbon Fiber in Taiwan

The 21st century is the compound materials century. Carbon fiber is the first choice of the compound materials, and its application is widespread, the demand is unceasing growth, the future prospects for development will be very well.
At present the carbon fiber compound materials are already widely used in aircraft, wind turbine blade, sports equipment, moreover is likely in automobile, shipbuilding, industry mold, roller and so on industry, and the technology is day by day mature. The demand of carbon fiber step to frontage stable high growth tendency, the supplies also hand in hand to make great strides forward the synchronization, therefore the carbon fiber and the carbon fiber compound materials industry''s prospect in the future will be quite makes one anticipate.
The main manufacturers of global PAN-based carbon fiber, including Toray, Toho, Mitsubishi, Formosa Plastics, Hexcel, Cytec, Zoltek and SGL. The production of small tow carbon fiber basically already grasp by Japanese Toray, Toho, Mitsubishi and Taiwanese Formosa Plastics enterprise, and the production of large tow carbon fiber are mainly to concentrate in American Zoltek and the European SGL enterprise.
TAIRYLANG business division of Formosa Plastics is the only one carbon fiber manufacturer in Taiwan. Formosa Plastics started from 1983 to invest in the carbon fiber domain, and from 1987 to 2008 carried on expands production capacity, the investment nearly 10 billions. The production capacity of carbon fiber in Formosa Plastics is increases to 6,150 tons/year in 2008, and Formosa Plastics is the global fourth carbon fiber manufacture, and places in Asia second, is only inferior to Japan.
This research is based on the methodologies of Five Forces Analysis, Diamond Theory, as well as SWOT Analysis. The conclusions of this research are as follows: Taiwan develop carbon fiber industry should use domestic rich human resources and superiority of the carbon fiber innate R&D ability to research and develop high performance carbon fiber technology as soon as possible. Than should rely on the large-scale production capacity and the consistent production system to get cost advantage.
In addition, the domestic carbon fiber manufacturers may use innate technology productivity and the scale superiority to enter and to grasp the market development opportunities of the lightweight airplane, the automobile, the pressure vessel or the wind power blade…and so on.
Moreover, based on SWOT analysis of this research that some suggestions are proposed as follows:
1. The carbon fiber manufacturer should develop and produce large tow carbon fiber as soon as possible, so as to face expansion of demand in industrial field. And should develop new carbon fiber market which Taiwan well known and specialty fields, grasp the opportunities of wind turbine blade and automobile carbon fiber market which energy saving tendency leads.
2. The government can provide the financing preferential project to carbon fiber industry to assist industry development, and establish carbon fiber technology development program, industry-university cooperative research project to encourage innovation and R&D of carbon fiber.
3.The upstream and midstream enterprises of the textile industry may rely on their own ability of produce process to appraise the feasibility of the investment carbon fiber production.
4.Enterprises of automobile, medical service, civil construction, energy and electronics industry should grasp the development opportunities of carbon fiber product, and actively research the high add-valued carbon fiber product to catch up with raised demand.