Glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) market has broad prospects and demand in the rail transit field continues to increase

Glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), also known as fiber-reinforced plastic, refers to a reinforced plastic with synthetic resin as the matrix and glass fiber as the reinforcing material. There are many types of FRP products, including FRP pipes, FRP tanks, FRP gratings, etc.

According to the “2022-2027 FRP Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report released by the Industrial Research Center, the main raw materials of FRP Made of fiberglass and synthetic resin. Driven by the “dual carbon goals”, my country’s glass fiber production continues to increase. According to statistics from the China Glass Fiber Industry Association, my country’s glass fiber production will reach 6.240 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 15.2%. At the same time, benefiting from falling production costs, my country’s synthetic resin output continues to grow. Sufficient supply of raw materials provides guarantee for the development of my country’s FRP industry.

FRP molding processes include fiber winding molding, hand lay-up molding, injection molding, molding and pultrusion. The fiber winding molding method can be subdivided into three types: dry method, wet method and semi-dry method. Wet winding means that after the fiber bundles are impregnated, they are directly wound onto the mandrel under tension control, and the fiberglass fiber reinforced plastics are finally produced through processes such as curing and demoulding. Wet winding is currently the most widely used FRP forming process by Chinese manufacturing companies. It has the advantages of high production efficiency, low cost, and low fiber wear.

The rail transit field is the largest demand end for FRP in my country. In the 1980s, FRP began to be gradually used in the manufacturing of rail transit vehicles. The inner wall panels, inner roof panels, parts, etc. of rail transit vehicles can all be made of FRP as raw materials. According to statistics from the Ministry of Transport, the new mileage of urban rail transit operations in my country will reach 1,168.0 kilometers in 2021, an increase of 15.0% compared with 2020. Driven by market demand, my country’s FRP production continues to increase.

FRP pipe, also known as fiberglass winding sand pipe, is a subdivided product of FRP. FRP pipes are highly designable and are widely used in many fields, including marine engineering, power systems, petrochemicals, water conservancy projects, etc. Compared with traditional pipe materials, FRP pipes have higher stability and market demand is growing. However, due to factors such as high technical barriers, my country’s FRP pipes are highly dependent on imports. Driven by national policy encouragement and technological upgrading, the domestic substitution space for fiberglass reinforced plastic pipes will further increase.

Industry analysts said that FRP has a wide range of applications, including communications engineering, building materials, petrochemicals, ships, rail transit, etc. In recent years, with the rapid development of high-end industries, my country’s demand for FRP has continued to grow, and the industry is developing well. At present, my country’s FRP forming technology has matured, and with sufficient supply of raw materials, its output and quality have been greatly improved, which will provide driving force for the development of the industry.