Carbon fibers combine the advantages of excellent mechanical properties and low density. Thereby they offer a high potential for weight reduction and energy savings. The properties can be influenced by the choice of the raw material and the adjustment of the process conditions. Hence carbon fibres can be optimized for a wide area of applications. Nevertheless the choice of the precursor material does not only determine the resulting material properties of the carbon fibres but also has a considerable impact on the duration and the costs of the production process. Until today fields of application for carbon fibres are limited due to their high costs. The "FibreTable Carbon Fibres" gives an overview about the state of the art in carbon fibre production. The focus is on polyacrylonitrilebased (PAN) carbon fibres which dominate the market. It includes a short outline about the historical development and the definition of carbon fibres. The manufacturing of the polyacrylonitrile precursor is describes as well as the thermal conversion to carbon fibres. The thermal conversion includes the stabilization process and the carbonization process. The fibre structure is described and its correlation to the fibre properties is analyzed. Finally an overview about the present market situation is given which includes a summary about producers and its capacities, an overview about the development of prices and demand and an outline of research and development trends.