Hexcel Corporation and its subsidiaries (Hexcel) is a global leader in advanced lightweight composites technology.
The company’s broad product range includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, resins, engineered core and composite structures for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications.
The company is a manufacturer of products within a single industry: Advanced Composites. The company has...
Hexcel Corporation and its subsidiaries (Hexcel) is a global leader in advanced lightweight composites technology.
The company’s broad product range includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, resins, engineered core and composite structures for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications.
The company is a manufacturer of products within a single industry: Advanced Composites. The company has two reportable segments: Composite Materials and Engineered Products. The Composite Materials segment is consisted of the company’s carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resin systems, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles. The Engineered Products segment is consisted of lightweight high strength composite structures, radio frequency/electromagnetic interference (‘RF/EMI’) and microwave absorbing materials, engineered core and specialty machined honeycomb products with added functionality and thermoplastic additive manufacturing.
The company serves international markets through manufacturing facilities, sales offices and representatives located in the Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, India, and Africa.
The company continues to monitor developments in ongoing geopolitical issues and conflicts globally.
The following summaries describe the ongoing activities related to the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments as of December 31, 2024.
Composite Materials
The Composite Materials segment manufactures and markets carbon fibers, fabrics, and specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, structural adhesives, honeycomb, molding compounds, tooling materials, polyurethane systems and laminates that are incorporated into many applications, including commercial and military aircraft, transportation (including automotive, marine and rail), wind turbine blades, recreational products, and other industrial applications.
Carbon Fibers: HexTow carbon fibers are used in certain reinforcements and composite materials. Carbon fibers are also woven into carbon fabrics, used as reinforcement in conjunction with a resin matrix to produce pre-impregnated composite materials (referred to as ‘prepregs’). Carbon fiber is also used in filament winding to produce finished composite components. Key product applications include structural components for commercial and military aircraft and rotorcraft, jet engine fan blades and fan casings, space launch vehicles, and certain other applications, such as recreational and industrial equipment.
Fabrics, Multi-axials and Specialty Reinforcements: HexForce fabrics, multi-axials and specialty reinforcements are made from a variety of fibers, including carbon, glass, aramid and other high strength polymers, quartz, ceramic and other specialty fibers. These reinforcements are used in the production of prepregs and other matrix materials for aerospace and select industrial markets, including automotive components, wind energy blades, oil exploration and production equipment, boats, surfboards, skis and other sporting goods equipment.
Prepregs: HexPly prepregs are used in manufacturing composite laminates and monolithic structures. Prepregs are used in primary and secondary structural aerospace applications, such as wing components, horizontal and vertical stabilizer components, fairings, radomes, engine fan blades and cases, engine nacelles, as well as overhead storage bins and other interior components. They are also used in many of the industrial and recreational products noted above. Prepregs are manufactured by combining high-performance reinforcement fabrics or unidirectional fibers with a resin matrix to form a composite material that, when cured, has exceptional structural properties not present in either of the constituent materials individually. Prepregs are applied via hand layup, automatic tape layup and advanced fiber placement to produce finished composite components. Prepreg reinforcements include glass, carbon, aramid, quartz, ceramic and other specialty fibers. Resin matrices include bismaleimide, cyanate ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyimide and other specialty resins.
Other Fiber-Reinforced Matrix Materials: Fiber reinforced matrix developments include HexTool, a specialized form of quasi-isotropic carbon fiber prepreg for use in the construction of high temperature resistant composite tooling. HexFIT film infusion material is a product that combines resin films and dry fiber reinforcements to save lay-up time in production and enables the manufacture of large contoured composite structures, such as wind turbine blades.
Resins: HexFlow polymer matrix materials are sold in liquid and film form for use in direct process manufacturing of composite parts. Resins can be combined with fiber reinforcements in manufacturing processes, such as resin transfer molding, resin film infusion or vacuum assisted resin transfer molding to support high volume production of composite components for both aerospace and industrial applications, without the need for customer investment in autoclaves.
Structural Adhesives: The company manufactures and markets a comprehensive range of HexBond film and paste adhesives. These structural adhesives, which bond metal to metal and composites and honeycomb structures, are used in the aerospace industry and for select industrial applications.
Honeycomb: HexWeb honeycomb is a lightweight, cellular structure generally composed of a sheet of nested hexagonal cells. It can also be manufactured in over-expanded and asymmetric cell configurations to meet special design requirements, such as contours or complex curvatures. Honeycomb is primarily used as a lightweight core material and acts as a highly efficient energy absorber. When sandwiched between composite or metallic facing skins, honeycomb significantly increases the stiffness of the structure, while adding very little weight.
The company produces honeycomb primarily from non-metallic materials though some honeycomb is produced from metallic materials. Non-metallic materials used in the manufacture of honeycomb include fiberglass, carbon fiber, thermoplastics, non-flammable aramid papers, aramid fiber and other specialty materials. Most metallic honeycomb is made from aluminum and is available in a selection of alloys, cell sizes and dimensions. The company sells honeycomb as standard blocks and in slices cut from a block. Aerospace is the largest market for honeycomb products.
The company’s HexWeb Acousti-Cap sound attenuating honeycomb used in aircraft engines and nacelles provides dramatic noise reduction during takeoff and landing without a structural weight penalty. Acousti-Cap incorporates a non-metallic, permeable cap material that is embedded into honeycomb core. In addition, the company produces honeycomb for its Engineered Products segment for use in manufacturing finished parts for airframe original equipment manufacturers.
Polyspeed Pultruded Profiles: Hexcel manufactures a wide range of pultruded sections, including rods, flat sections, tubes and specific profiles that are usually made from carbon fiber but can also be made from glass, quartz, basalt or other fibers. The profile matrix is a Hexcel formulation of thermoset resin (epoxy or polyurethane). Hexcel pultruded profiles are used in a wide range of industrial applications.
The Composite Materials segment’s key customers are Aernnova, Airbus, Bell (A Textron Company), The Boeing Company, Bombardier, CFAN, Collins Aerospace (a RTX Company), CTRM Aero Composites, Daher, Dassault, Embraer, FACC, General Electric, GKN, Gulfstream (a General Dynamics Company), Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Nordam, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney (a RTX Company), Safran, Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin Company), Syensqo, Spirit Aerosystems, Toray, and RTX.
Engineered Products
The Engineered Products segment manufactures and markets composite structures and precision machined honeycomb parts primarily for use in the aerospace industry. Composite structures are manufactured from a variety of composite and other materials, including prepregs, honeycomb, and structural adhesives, using such manufacturing processes as autoclave processing, multi-axis numerically controlled machining, heat forming, infusion or resin transfer molding and other composite manufacturing techniques. Composite structures include HexAM 3D printed parts, which offer significant weight cost and time-to-market reductions compared to incumbent metal or traditional composite technologies. This segment also provides advanced interference control materials, structural composites, and services; dielectric absorber foams and honeycomb; magnetic absorbers; and thermoplastics for commercial and defense applications.
The Engineered Products segment, prior to 2024, had included a 50% ownership interest in a Malaysian joint venture, Aerospace Composites Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (‘ACM’) with Boeing Worldwide Operations Limited. Hexcel historically purchased certain semi-finished composite components from the joint venture and performed inspection and additional assembly work prior to direct delivery to Boeing production lines. As part of Boeing's supply chain optimization, this assembly work was transferred overseas in stages in 2020 and 2021 to other parts of the Boeing supply chain, including ACM. Under the ACM joint venture structure, 50% of ACM net income accrued to Hexcel. In December 2023, Hexcel sold its 50% interest in ACM to Boeing.
The Engineered Products segment’s key customers are The Boeing Company, Bell (a Textron Company), CTRM Aero Composites, General Dynamics, General Electric, GKN, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin Company), Spirit Aerosystems, and RTX.
Significant Customers
Approximately 40% of the company’s 2024 net sales were to Airbus and its subcontractors. Of the 40% of overall sales to Airbus and its subcontractors in 2024, 37% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 3% related to Space & Defense market applications. Approximately 15% of the company’s 2024 net sales were to Boeing and its subcontractors. Of the 15% of overall sales to Boeing and its subcontractors in 2024, 13% related to Commercial Aerospace market applications and 2% related to Space & Defense market applications.
Markets
The company’s products are sold for a broad range of end-uses where durability, strength and weight are important factors to the company’s customers. The company sells to three different markets: Commercial Aerospace, Space & Defense and Industrial.
Commercial Aerospace
The Commercial Aerospace industry is the company’s largest user of advanced composites. Commercial Aerospace represented 63% of the company’s 2024 net sales. Approximately 80% of these revenues can be identified as sales to Airbus, Boeing, and their subcontractors for the production of commercial aircraft. Approximately 20% of these revenues were for business jets and regional and other commercial aircraft.
The use of advanced composites in Commercial Aerospace is primarily in the manufacture of new commercial aircraft and jet engines. The company has products on all Airbus and Boeing planes.
Engines and nacelles are also an attractive market for both Hexcel Composite Materials and Engineered Products, including composite fan blades, cowlings, and nacelles. Both Airbus and Boeing introduced updated versions of their narrow body aircraft which utilize composite-rich engines and nacelles but continue to incorporate metal wings and fuselages that were designed decades ago. The Airbus A320neo had its first customer delivery in 2016 and the Boeing 737 MAX entered into service in 2017. The LEAP engines and nacelles on both the A320neo and 737 MAX are composite-rich as is the GE9X engine on the Boeing 777X.
Space & Defense
The aggregate demand by Space & Defense customers is primarily a function of procurement of military aircraft, rotorcraft and space craft that utilize advanced composites, including the United States, a number of Western European countries, as well as a select number of other countries globally. The company is qualified to supply materials to a broad range of military aircraft, commercial helicopter and space programs, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 (Lightning), Sikorsky CH-53K (King Stallion), Bell-Boeing V-22 (Osprey) tilt rotor aircraft, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, Dassault Rafale, Airbus A400M and Embraer KC-390 military transport aircraft. The F-35, which is the company’s largest program, represents less than 25% of revenues in this market. Space applications for advanced composites include solid rocket booster cases, fairings and payload doors for both government funded and commercial launch vehicles, and satellite buss and solar arrays for military and commercial satellites.
Another growth generating trend for Hexcel is the further penetration of composites in rotorcraft blades, including both new and replacement blades. The Sikorsky Black Hawk wide chord blade program was the largest blade program in 2024 and 2023. Hexcel composites are being used in prototypes of new military and civilian helicopters globally. CH-53K is a future growth program, including the composite helicopter blades and new helicopter programs in development which use Hexcel composites in prototypes. The blades include Composite Materials products such as carbon fiber, prepregs, and honeycomb core to improve blade performance. In addition, the company’s Engineered Products segment provides specialty value added services such as machining, sub-assembly, and even full blade manufacturing for rotorcraft.
Industrial
The Industrial market represented 7% of the company’s 2024 net sales. The revenue from this market includes automotive, a wide variety of recreational products, consumer electronics, marine, wind turbine blades and other industrial applications. Some of these applications represent emerging opportunities for the company’s products. In developing new applications, the company seeks those opportunities where advanced composites technology offers significant benefits to the end user, often applications that demand highly engineered performance. This includes carbon fiber and resin formulations that the company produces, as well as glass fiber the company purchases from third parties that the company then combines with its resin formulations and weaving expertise. Within the Industrial market, automotive is the largest submarket with sales to high-end performance vehicles. The Industrial market also includes sales to major end user sub-markets, in order of size based on the company’s 2024 sales: general industrial applications (including those sold through distributors), transportation (e.g., automobiles, mass transit and high-speed rail, and marine applications) and consumer electronics, wind energy, and recreational equipment (e.g., skis and snowboards, bicycles and hockey sticks). Historically, wind energy comprised the largest submarket within industrial as the company purchases third-party glass fiber and add value with the company’s weaving expertise and resin formulations. The financial returns on new wind energy business became unattractive to the company as the global wind industry works through a period of turmoil in terms of inflationary cost impacts, logistics challenges, permitting delays, and stiff competition amongst multiple wind turbine manufacturers globally. The company continues to produce material for wind blades at the company’s European facility under existing contracts for a number of legacy turbines. The company’s participation in Industrial applications complements the company’s commercial and military aerospace businesses, and in many instances, technology or products now used in aerospace were started in Industrial. In response to changing market dynamics, the company is committed to pursuing the utilization of advanced structural material technology and introducing new innovations to support the company’s customers where it can generate significant value and the company can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.
Environmental Matters
The company is subject to various International and the U.S. federal, state, and local environmental and health and safety laws and regulations. The company is also potentially subject to liabilities arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (‘CERCLA’ or ‘Superfund’), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and similar state local and international laws and regulations that impose responsibility for the control, remediation and abatement of air, water and soil pollutants and the manufacturing, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and waste.
Other Regulatory Matters
As a materials supplier for the U.S. prime contractors, and in some cases, directly to the U.S. government, the company is subject to certain U.S. government Federal Acquisition Regulations, the Department of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement, and associated procurement regulations. Specifically, the company must comply with certain laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration, and performance of the U.S. government contracts, including the U.S. government security requirements, such as the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual and any other applicable U.S. government industrial security regulations, as well as additional government export control laws and regulations.
Sales and Marketing
A staff of salaried marketing managers, product managers and sales personnel sell and market the company’s products directly to customers worldwide. The company also uses independent authorized distributors for certain products, markets, and regions. In addition, the company operates various sales representation offices globally.
Research and Technology (R&T) Expenses
The company’s R&T expenses were $57.1 million for 2024.
History
Hexcel Corporation was founded in 1946. The company was incorporated in California in 1948 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1983.
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