At present, the global fiberglass industry has formed a complete industrial chain from fiberglass, fiberglass products to fiberglass composite materials. Its upstream industries involve mining (non-metallic minerals such as pyrophyllite and limestone), chemical industry (soda ash), and energy (natural gas, electricity, etc.), while its downstream industries involve multiple fields such as building materials, electronic appliances, rail transit, petrochemical, and automotive manufacturing.
Upstream provides necessary raw materials for fiberglass production, involving industries such as ore mining, energy, and chemical engineering. The upstream raw materials of glass fiber mainly include mineral raw materials such as pyrophyllite, kaolin, limestone, etc., which are manufactured through high-temperature melting, drawing, winding, weaving, and other processes. Through the formation of glass fiber products and glass fiber composite materials, they are applied to downstream industries.
Glass fiber products are mainly divided into non-woven products and textile products. Glass fiber production is located in the middle of the industrial chain. Through the use of upstream raw materials and unique processes, it produces glass fiber yarn, glass fiber textiles, non-woven products, etc. These products are further processed to become terminal composite material products.
Downstream industries involve infrastructure, environmental protection, energy conservation, new energy, and transportation. Glass fiber is not the ultimate form of downstream applications, but rather serves as an intermediate product to composite with downstream products to form glass fiber composite materials, enhancing the overall performance of materials. Currently, building materials, transportation, industry, and wind power generation are the main downstream industries of glass fiber, accounting for 87% of the demand structure for glass fiber.