Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical (SPC, Shanghai / China; www.spc.com.cn/) has started constructing a production plant for 48k large-tow carbon fibre. The CNY 3.5 bn (EUR 444m) project is expected to produce 24,000 t/y of carbon fibre precursors and 12,000 t/y of the 48k large-tow carbon fibre bundles (which contain 48,000 carbon fibres), and is scheduled for completion in 2024. It will use polyacrylonitrile (PAN) carbon-based fibre technology to manufacture the fibres. The project will change China’s dependency on tow, an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments, which the country imports mostly from Japan and the US.

SPC said the mass production of 48k large tow carbon fibre technology will bring down the cost of producing carbon fibre and expand its applications. Carbon fibre is mainly used in aerospace, civil engineering, the military and automobiles, and has a relative density of about a quarter of steel combined with a high tensile strength. However, it is relatively expensive, compared to similar fibres such as glass or plastics, and its application is relatively limited.

The company predicts that by 2025 China will consume at least 50,000 t/y of carbon fibre, with large-tow carbon fibre accounting for 30,000 t/y. It is estimated that the country’s carbon fibre consumption in 2018 was approximately 31,000 t.