What is current world suppy vs demand in carbon fiber over the next two years?

Question

I am trying to determine how the increase in number of production plants in China may or may not affect pricing and viablility of several American companies that are publicly listed.

Answer 1

Demand for Carbon Fiber has skyrocketed in the past few years. This is due to several factors: Increased acceptance for use in the Automotive and construction industries, the proliferation of large wind energy farms and the new Boeing and Airbus planes that are largely made with Carbon fiber components.
In 1998 worldwide capacity of PAN based carbon fiber was estimated at approximately 65 million pounds per year. This has changed little since that time. Currently the major producers of carbon fiber, Toray, Mitsubishi, Hexcel, Zoltek etc., are feverishly working to increase their capacity. In the next 2 - 5 years PAN based carbon fiber supply should rise by 30-50%.