Graphite shaft prices are going to increase...

[ualtim]

I was reading through one of my Golfsmith Clubmaker magazines last night and came upon an article that discussed the modern graphite shaft materials. Towards the end of the article, it mentioned that there is a growing shortage of the carbon pre-preg material available for the shaft companies as other industries, Aerospace industry being the largest one, are using the material in greater volumes. While carbon fiber has been used in aircraft production for some time, it has been limited to smaller components such as control surfaces and small portions of aircraft fuselages. The new Boeing product, the B-787 Dreamliner, is going to be the first commercial airliner with a primarily carbon fiber fuselage which is going to dramatically increase the demand for the pre-preg material. According to the article, one B-787 fuselage is going to require as much of the carbon fiber material as it takes to produce 400,000 golf shafts. Boeing's current estimate on prodcution numbers is 10 aircraft a month which is the equivilent of 4,000,000 million golf shafts per month.

While we are not going to run out of the carbon fiber material, the price is going to increase as the aerospace industry typically pays a significantly higher price for their material and the shaft companies are most likely going to have to pay higher prices in order to maintain access to the diminished supply. According to the article, some shaft prices have already started to increase and while Golfsmith has yet to pass the increase on to the consumer so far, they will have to increase prices on those shafts starting next year.

The moral of the story: If you are looking to buy a new graphite shaft, it best be done before the price increase.

[warbirdlover]

And so the price of drivers and other clubs with graphite shafts increases also.... Maybe we'll soon have "rubber" shafts in our clubs?

[Davebud]

That is going to impact the upper echelon guys in my other hobby then as well, not that I was going to buy a carbon fiber mast any time soon. Sail boat manufacturers have been really leaning on CF as a way of lightening rigging to make go fast boats, and there have even been whole boats made of CF. They have already been a spendy option, now they will just get more costly.

[Rockford35]

My guess is that as a market opens, there will be more of a supply starting up as well.

I'm not overly worried. $10 a shaft isn't going to kill me, and that's an increase of 20% in some cases.

Remember, there's just as much CF in a Graf Blue as there is in a YS-6+, they just cost $70 more between them.

R35

[ualtim]

My guess is that as a market opens, there will be more of a supply starting up as well.

I'm not overly worried. $10 a shaft isn't going to kill me, and that's an increase of 20% in some cases.

Remember, there's just as much CF in a Graf Blue as there is in a YS-6+, they just cost $70 more between them.

R35

They did mention that suppliers were going to ramp up production, but with the aerospace industry paying top dollar, prices are going to increase even as production increases.

While I don't think there is any reason to panic buy shafts, it just another disturbing trend in the golf industry. Some manufacturers are already starting to get away from 100% graphite shafts and sumplementing with fiberglass up to 20-30%. Fiberglass composites work OK for slower swing speeds, but higher swing speeds will fracture those shafts and they are no where near as consistant. Several years ago 100% fiberglass shafts were tried. I think even Gary Player was endorsing them for a while. They were horribly incosistant. Player had such a bad time with them that he pulled them from his clubs and painted his steel shafts black to make it look like he was playing the shafts he was paid to play. Time to start checking the percent carbon in the graphite shafts. So far, it is limited to the lower end shafts, but it would not surprise me to see some "100% carbon" labels start appearing on shafts in the near future.

Maybe Aerotech has the answer with their steel/graphite composte shafts after all. Still pricey, though.

[warbirdlover]

Is this a "WORLD" shortage of material or just a "US" shortage? I mean will the Fujikuras etc be affected also?

[JEFF4i]

WBL, does it really matter? Everytime I buy anything besides 5 dollar hookers I know I'm the one getting hosed in the deal. They will probably raise their prices regardless.

[warbirdlover]

Yeah, I guess you're right. We both drive cars that burn gas...

[Jules150]

How much do you think they'll go up, no more that 10-15$ right?

[Rockford35]

How much do you think they'll go up, no more that 10-15$ right?

I doubt it will be a huge increase like that. You'll just see new releases at higher price points.

R35

[ualtim]

The shortage is not going to be limited to US shaft companies, and its not like the material is going to disappear completely. With other industries using greater volumes of the material and paying higher prices for it, there will be less of the material available to shaft companies and what is available will come at a higher price. If your willing to pay more, your shafts will be available.

My biggest fear beyond the price increase is what will happen to the quality of the shafts. Major golf companies spend a lot time working on price points for their equipment and have a pretty good idea what people are willing to pay for certain items. As the price of the carbon material increases, I fear that they will start to mess with the formula and suplement with cheaper materials. A good example of this is the Japanese market. A lot of exotic golf equipment can be had over in Japan as the average Japanese consumer is willing to spend a whole lot more on their golf equipment. Things like Nano Technology and other exotic materials are usually released to the Japanese market iniatially and then brought into the US market when either economy of scale or increased material availability lowers the price to the price point they know that we will be willing to pay.

It will be intersting to see how things progress. I am hoping that it just a short term issue.