Carbon fiber costs are primarily driven by its manufacture. Within the manufacturing process, petroleum-based precursors account for just over half the cost of carbon fiber. Across the industry, manufacturing costs are dominated by the high cost of carbon fiber precursor materials. For more, see Projected delivered energy use to manufacture carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
A: McKinsey & Co. 2003.New Horizons: Multinational Company Investment in Developing Economies. McKinsey & Co.
B: Warren, Dave. 2010. Low Cost Carbon Fiber Overview. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. link
Carbon fiber cost breakdown
How to make advanced composite hypercar class autobodies
Carbon fiber market share by company
Carbon fiber precursor basics
Industrial grade carbon fiber supply and demand