North America Carbon Fiber Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Key Highlights

• The demand for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles, increased use in the aerospace and defense industries, and increased use of renewable energy are the main factors driving the market under consideration.
• However, high research and development investments in the sector and the availability of substitutes are likely to hamper market growth.
• Chances for the future come from the growing demand for recycled carbon fiber and the focus on using lignin as the main raw material for carbon fiber.
• The United States had the biggest share of the market, and this is likely to stay true for the next few years.

North America Carbon Fiber Market Trends

Aerospace and Defense Industry to Dominate the Market

• Based on the end-user industry, the aerospace and defense category accounts for the biggest market share in the North American region. Several innovative products have been introduced in this industry in recent years. Carbon fibers are an excellent alternative for a wide range of aerospace and defense applications because they provide the necessary strength, endurance, and stability.
• Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are progressively replacing traditional metal constructions in airplanes due to their light yet rigid design characteristics. Composite materials are becoming a vital aspect of the aerospace industry, from the cabin of an airplane or jet to the rotor blades of a helicopter.
• Following a difficult COVID-19 period, the North American aerospace and military industry exhibited its endurance by returning from the difficult period with good market revenue. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), North American airlines are likely to outperform other areas because of the rapid recovery of the domestic market in the United States. North America (mainly the United States) is predicted to receive one-third of all aircraft deliveries by 2023.
• The North American region is predicted to cover around 22% of the global fleet at the end of the forecast period (2041), according to Boeing's commercial outlook for 2022-2041. It is also anticipated that a total of 9,310 fleet deliveries will be made over the next two decades, with single-aisle accounting for almost 70% of the total deliveries in the region.
• According to a World Bank report, North America's total military spending accounted for around 3.3% of the region's total GDP in 2021. This though represented a drop of about 8.5%, when compared to the previous year's expenditure percentage, which was roughly 3.6%.
• The U.S. Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2031, defense spending will have increased from a low of 596 billion dollars in 2014 to 915 billion dollars. The Departments of the Navy and the Air Force would be receiving the lion's share of the budget.
• In November 2022, the United States Army announced that they awarded a 5-year IDIQ contract valued up to USD 1.498 billion to Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS for the continued delivery of the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS).
• Owing to the aforementioned factors, the aerospace and defense segment is expected to dominate the market which in turn will help the carbon fiber market to expand exponentially in the region during the forecast period.

United States to Dominate the Market

• The United States dominated the carbon fiber market in North America. The United States is currently one of the largest production hubs in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies. One of the key contributors to the nation's economy is the manufacturing sector.
• One of the largest fleet sizes in the world is in the United States, which also has the largest aviation market in North America. The manufacturing activities in the aerospace industry have been driven by strong exports of aerospace components to nations like France, China, and Germany, as well as by strong consumer spending in the United States. This is anticipated to create positive momentum for the country's carbon fiber market.
• The increasing air passenger traffic in the United States has led to various airline companies in the United States upgrading and modifying their fleets and procuring various aircraft with advanced capabilities in order to cater to the increasing air passenger demand. For instance, in February 2022, American Airlines, which is an airline company based out of the United States, announced that they had ordered 30 new 737 Max 8 jets from the major aircraft manufacturing firm Boeing.
• Due to more air freight, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) predicts that the number of commercial planes will grow by 2% per year on average until 2041, when there will be 8,756 of them.The fleet of US mainline carriers is also anticipated to increase by 54 aircraft annually as the current fleet ages.
• The defense industry is also likely to help the growth of the carbon fiber market.The US Department of Defense said in a statement that the Biden-Harris Administration requested USD 813.3 billion for national defense in the FY 2023 budget, of which USD 773.0 billion is for the Department of Defense (DoD). This budget request was 4% higher than the FY 2022 budget, or about USD 30 million.
• Moreover, the United States Census Bureau reports that USD 1,809.8 billion was spent overall in the US construction sector in December 2022. Comparing December 2022 to December 2021, when the total amount spent was USD 1,681.0 billion, the construction sector showed a rise of roughly 7.7%.
• OICA estimated that there were roughly 14.2 million new vehicle registrations and sales in the United States in 2022, a 7.6% decline from the previous year's sales. Around 3.7 million units of total sales were made in December 2022, which was 5% more than the same month the year before.

North America Carbon Fiber Industry Overview

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