Analysis report on current situation of glass fiber industry in 2021

Due to the impact of the cowid-19 epidemic, 2020 is a crisis year for the composite industry, because the epidemic has triggered cash flow and demand crisis, supply chain disruption and worker safety issues. While 2020 is challenging, the outlook for 2021 seems brighter.

In early 2020, the U.S. composite industry started quite well and showed good growth signs similar to that in 2019. By the end of March, new orders had been delayed or even cancelled. In the second quarter, especially in April and may, the epidemic had the greatest impact, leading to the most severe and severe economic contraction since the great depression. In the summer, more than 20 million people lost their jobs and factories in all walks of life were closed. The transportation, construction and shipping industries were the hardest hit, resulting in a 20% reduction in demand for fiberglass in the US in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the first quarter of 2020.

However, the second half of 2020 will be the fastest recovery period for the economy and composite industry. Since July 2020, driven by the stimulus plan and the reopening of factories, demand for a variety of end use industries in the U.S. composite industry has begun to grow, including the automotive, shipping and construction industries. As a result, the US fiberglass market grew by about 23% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2020.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the US fiberglass market remained strong, with a growth rate of about 5% in November compared with November 2019. However, by the end of 2020, the glass fiber market is still unable to fully recover from the pandemic, and is expected to decline by about 6%, with demand falling to 2.44 billion pounds, compared with 2.59 billion pounds in 2019. The impact of coronavirus on the whole value chain is irregular. The application of automobile, pipeline and storage tank, aerospace and marine shows a significant downward trend, while the wind energy, electrical and electronic and construction industries still maintain a good development trend.