China's domestic fiberglass trade structure continues to optimize, and domestically produced high-end fiberglass is gradually becoming a core global supply source.
Fiberglass, as a key inorganic composite material with lightweight, corrosion resistance, and excellent insulation properties, is widely used in various industries such as construction, transportation, electronics, electrical engineering, and new energy equipment, serving as a fundamental new material supporting the upgrading of modern manufacturing. After experiencing a downturn in the industry from 2022 to 2024 due to weak global consumption and overcapacity in low-end products, the industry rebounded in 2025 with a concentrated release of demand from downstream new energy sectors. Entering 2026, the accelerated global energy transition, coupled with the wave of domestic production in high-end manufacturing, allowed the glass fiber industry to break free from the constraints of traditional real estate and infrastructure cycles, officially entering a structurally high-growth phase driven by new energy, AI electronics, and automotive lightweighting. Relying on a complete industrial chain, large-scale production capacity advantages, and continuous technological breakthroughs, my country's glass fiber industry firmly controls global industry dominance, achieving comprehensive upgrades in market size, product structure, and import/export trade.
I. Global Market Steadily Expands, Emerging Demand Drives Industry Growth
With the implementation of global carbon neutrality policies, the recovery of high-end manufacturing in various countries, and the accelerated pace of lightweighting in composite materials, the global fiberglass industry is expected to maintain a steady upward trend in 2026. Industry survey data estimates that global fiberglass production is expected to exceed 11.8 million tons this year, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%; the overall market size will reach US$19.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, showing a steady upward trend compared to the previous two years. Looking back at this industry cycle, the global market was mired in a weak economic climate for the first three years, rooted in weak traditional downstream demand coupled with the disorderly expansion of low-end fiberglass production capacity globally, resulting in a prolonged period of price competition and shrinking profits. With the gradual elimination of outdated production capacity and the development and implementation of high-end products, the industry is expected to reach a turning point in 2025, with a full realization of structural prosperity in 2026.
From the perspective of demand structure, the growth logic of the global fiberglass market has undergone a fundamental shift. Traditional application markets such as building insulation, general industrial support, and conventional road transportation maintained only steady and slow growth, contributing only 40% of the total incremental growth. Meanwhile, emerging sectors such as wind power installations, energy storage corrosion protection, AI high-frequency electronic substrates, and lightweighting of new energy vehicles contributed over 60% of the new market demand, becoming the core driving force for the global expansion of fiberglass volume. The increasing size of wind turbines has driven the expansion of demand for high-modulus fiberglass, the surge in AI servers has increased the consumption of ultra-thin low-dielectric electronic cloth, and power batteries and hydrogen energy equipment have spurred demand for corrosion-resistant and weather-resistant special fiberglass. The resonance of multiple emerging sectors has transformed the fiberglass industry from a cyclical building material category into an advanced new material sector with long-term growth attributes.
II. China's Production Capacity Dominates the World, Industry Differentiation Highlights the Main Theme of High-End Development
my country is the undisputed largest producer, consumer, and exporter of fiberglass globally. After decades of iteration in pool furnace technology and the improvement of the upstream and downstream industrial chain, China's total fiberglass production capacity accounts for over 75% of the global total, giving it absolute dominance in the global fiberglass supply system. China's total fiberglass production is projected to reach 8.8 million tons in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%, significantly higher than the global average. The domestic market size is expected to exceed RMB 145 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, with both the industry's scale and development quality improving simultaneously.
The structural differentiation between supply and demand is the most prominent feature of the domestic fiberglass market in 2026. On the supply side, low-value-added products such as general-purpose roving and ordinary medium-alkali fiberglass continue to see outdated capacity cleared, resulting in a relatively ample market supply and persistently low prices. Conversely, high-end products such as wind power high-modulus fiberglass, AI-supporting ultra-thin electronic fiberglass, automotive lightweight fiberglass, and energy storage corrosion-resistant special fiberglass face limited new supply due to factors such as long construction cycles for high-end production lines, high technological barriers, and stringent customer certification requirements. Market order schedules are full, and product prices and corporate profitability remain robust. The contrasting market dynamics of high and low demand have driven the industry towards a differentiated development pattern: the elimination of low-end inventory and the explosive growth of high-end supply. The overall profitability of the industry is steadily increasing, with leading new materials companies achieving certain profit growth through their high-end product strategies.
Leveraging China's vast new energy vehicle market, vehicle manufacturing industry, and electronic PCB supply chain, domestic fiberglass companies possess natural downstream testing, mass production, and iteration scenarios. Their technological catch-up is accelerating, gradually breaking the long-standing monopoly of overseas companies in the high-end specialty fiberglass field. The industry as a whole is steadily transforming towards high quality and high added value.
III. Optimization and Reshaping of the Import and Export Pattern: Domestic High-End Fiberglass Moves to the Core of Global Supply
For a long time, my country's fiberglass foreign trade has been characterized by a passive pattern of "large-scale export of low-end products and reliance on imports of high-end specialty materials." However, in 2026, this trade structure underwent a complete reversal, with domestic fiberglass officially achieving a leapfrog upgrade from "product export" to "high-end material supply export." China's fiberglass and fiberglass product exports are projected to exceed 3.2 million tons for the year, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. This export growth is no longer driven by low-priced ordinary yarn and mesh fabrics; instead, the proportion of high-value-added products such as wind power-specific fiberglass, high-frequency electronic fabrics, and industrial special needle-punched felt in total exports continues to rise, leading to a sustained increase in the overall value of foreign trade exports.
In contrast, the industry's import scale continues to shrink. Currently, most mainstream fiberglass products in China have achieved 100% domestic mass production, with only a small amount of top-grade quartz fiberglass and ultra-high precision military-grade special fiberglass still requiring overseas procurement. Today, China's fiberglass industry has not only achieved self-sufficiency in its domestic supply chain but has also grown into the world's most important supply base for high-end fiberglass, with products sold to the European and American wind power markets, the global electronics industry chain, and the supply chains of overseas new energy vehicle companies. This dual shift-increased export value-added and decreased import dependence-demonstrates the qualitative upgrade in the global competitiveness of my country's fiberglass industry.
IV. Long-Term Industry Outlook: Deep Technological Development as the Foundation, New Productivity Opens Up Long-Term Potential
Looking at the medium to long term, the high prosperity of the fiberglass industry that began in 2026 is not a short-term phenomenon, but a sustained growth cycle driven by industrial upgrading. The global trend of wind power becoming more offshore and wind turbines becoming larger will not stop; AI computing infrastructure construction will enjoy long-term prosperity; the penetration rate of lightweight transformation in new energy vehicles will continue to increase; and emerging application scenarios such as energy storage, marine engineering, and aerospace will continue to expand, further raising the demand ceiling for high-end fiberglass products.
For the domestic industry, future development will focus on three points: first, continuously eliminating inefficient and outdated production capacity and maintaining a reasonable order in the low-end market through industry self-regulation; second, increasing investment in the research and development of high-end fiberglass formulas, drawing processes, and fabric treatment technologies to fill the gaps in a few top-tier materials; and third, relying on intelligent kilns and green, low-carbon production processes to balance production efficiency and environmental requirements.
With over 75% of the world's production capacity, a complete industrial support system, and strong emerging domestic demand, my country's fiberglass industry will continue to lead global development, using its core strength in new materials to continuously provide Chinese solutions for the global transformation of new energy and the development of high-end manufacturing.
