China has launched three of the world's largest carbon fiber production lines in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, marking a breakthrough in high‑end materials manufacturing and a milestone in the nation's drive for industrial upgrading.
The new facilities, operated by China National Building Material Group Co., cover general‑purpose, high‑strength and high‑modulus carbon fiber products.
The three newly-launched lines, each among the largest globally, feature distinct strengths.
A 5,000-tonne large-tow line, using proprietary dry-wet spinning, produces wind-power materials at lower cost and boosts large-scale manufacturing.
A 1,000-tonne T1100 line, the world's first with a four-meter width, targets high-end applications such as aerospace and low-altitude aircraft.
A 600-tonne high-modulus line serves advanced equipment and 3C electronics.
Together, the three lines strengthen China's carbon fiber supply chain. The large‑tow line makes wind power and electric vehicles lighter and cheaper, the T1100 line breaks foreign monopolies and secures aerospace supply chains, and the high‑modulus line opens new markets for advanced manufacturing.
"The three lines mainly produce high-end carbon fiber products. With just one-fifth the weight of steel but eight times the strength, they can reduce the weight of aerospace and low-altitude aircraft by about 20 percent," said Jin Liang, head of a 30,000-tonne carbon fiber production base in Lianyungang under China National Building Material Group Co.
The launch of the three top-tier lines fills gaps in domestic high-end carbon fiber capacity, completes the full self-sufficiency chain across all product categories, and shifts the industry from scale-driven rivalry to technology-led, high-end growth.
"We have noticed a remarkable shift in China's carbon fiber industry toward high-end products in 2026, better meeting the market demands of aerospace, low-altitude economy and new energy sectors. The nation's carbon fiber capacity is expected to exceed 200,000 tonnes in 2026, with output projected to surpass 100,000 tonnes," said Zhang Hui, secretary-general of the carbon fiber composite materials branch of the Chinese Society for Composite Materials.
China expands carbon fiber capacity with three world-class production lines
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday on renewed concerns around spending by artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.89 points, or 0.02 percent, to 52,867.98. The S and P 500 sank 93.74 points, or 1.21 percent, to 7,663.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 694 points, or 2.6 percent, to 26,008.86.
Six of the 11 primary S and P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer staples and utilities leading the gainers by going up 3.11 percent and 1.98 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and technology led the laggards by losing 3.01 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
U.S. Treasury yields tumbled on Thursday as investors sought safety in government bonds. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell more than 17 basis points to 4.957 percent, its lowest in almost a month and its largest single-day drop of the year. The 30-year yield eased over 12 basis points to around 5.28 percent.
Oil prices surged on escalating Middle East tensions. Brent crude futures settled at 113.17 U.S. dollars a barrel, up 4 percent and the highest since May, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.39 percent to 99.47 dollars a barrel. The gains followed more Houthi attacks on Saudi targets and reports that the United States and Israel are drawing up plans for strikes on Iran after the Nov 3 U.S. midterm elections.
On the corporate front, Meta Platforms sank about 7 percent despite reporting third-quarter revenue of 64.6 billion dollars, up 26 percent from a year earlier and above Wall Street expectations. Tesla fell over 3 percent after reporting adjusted earnings of 48 cents a share that beat expectations, but flat revenue of 28 billion dollars and a cut to its 2026 capital-spending forecast to about 20 billion dollars. SpaceX tumbled over 9 percent, more than erasing Wednesday's rally after its first profitable quarter.
Chip stocks were hammered. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged nearly 6 percent, with Lam Research down 11.76 percent after warning that supply-chain constraints would delay shipments, while Intel, AMD, Micron and Nvidia each fell more than 4 percent. GE Vernova slumped 10.64 percent as Meta's spending outlook stoked AI financing worries, and CoreWeave dropped more than 10 percent.
On the economic front, the number of U.S. citizens filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 194,000 last week, near 57-year lows and below economists' expectations of 200,000, pointing to a stable labor market. The Conference Board's leading economic index was unchanged in September at 99.6.
With the Federal Reserve in its pre-meeting quiet period, attention turned to its Oct 27-28 meeting, where traders largely expect policymakers to hold rates steady.
U.S. stocks end mixed as AI spending jitters spark tech sell-off
