Mike Canario, VP/GM Americas at Hexcel (Stamford, CT, US), discussed the economics of carbon fiber supply and the metrics that drive capacity expansion. He noted that the high cost of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor combined with high capital equipment costs for new carbon fiber manufacturing lines put a great deal of pressure on carbon fiber suppliers to maximize asset use to meet their cash flow requirements. This means that capacity expansion to meet demand is done, perhaps, more carefully and deliberately than carbon fiber consumers might like. "Under-utilized assets are the scariest thing for carbon fiber makers," he said.