JUNE 13, 2007

The rising cost of carbonfibre

The current worldwide shortage of carbonfibre is going to make it more difficult and more expensive to build racing cars, until supply catches up with demand. Thus far the situation has led to prices quadrupling and there is no sign of any improvement in the situation in the short term.

There has been a carbonfibre shortage since 2005 but it seems that things are getting more difficult as the US Military builds F-22 Raptors, Joint Strike Fighters and Blackhawk helicopters. The military also uses composite materials for drones, body armour, helmets and various other kinds of equipment.

To make matters worse Boeing is building the new 787 Dreamliner while rival Airbus is hard at work on the giant A380 and A350 models all of which feature extensive use of composite materials.