In the first three quarters, the carbon black industry sales growth and profit declined

Under the impact of multiple adverse factors such as high oil prices, weakened demand, and repeated epidemics, the operating performance of China's carbon black industry this year has declined significantly, and the profit in the first three quarters was 430 million yuan, down 81.09% year-on-year. This is the information that the reporter recently obtained from the 2022 China Carbon Black Annual Conference and General Assembly.

According to statistics, in the first three quarters, 33 key enterprises in the carbon black industry completed a total industrial output value of 31.921 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.89%; achieved sales revenue of 33.799 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.67%; The profit was 430 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 81.09%; The profit margin was 1.27%, down 6.78 percentage points year-on-year. The total output of carbon black was 3.5655 million tons, down 1.5% year-on-year.

"Among the 11 sub-industries of the rubber industry, the carbon black industry has the most serious decline in operating indicators, especially the profit indicators are far behind the broader market, ranking first from the bottom." Shen Jinliang, chairman of the carbon black branch of the China Rubber Industry Association, pointed out.

The operating difficulties of carbon black enterprises have intensified. In the first three quarters, except for a few enterprises such as Jinneng Technology, Shanxi Yongdong and Shandong Lianke, the output of other enterprises decreased and slightly. Although the production and sales of most carbon black enterprises are basically balanced, the inventory of finished products increased by 80,000 tons, an increase of 47.3%, and accounts receivable increased by 52.3%.

Carbon black production cost pressure is greater. In the first three quarters, the price of raw materials increased by 43% year-on-year, while the price of carbon black increased by only 22% year-on-year, making it extremely difficult for carbon black enterprises to operate. Among the 33 enterprises counted by the industry association monthly, 8 companies lost money, accounting for 24.24%.

In addition, the risk of carbon black import substitution is beginning to appear. In the first three quarters, China exported 658,000 tons of carbon black, a year-on-year increase of 15%, with an average price of $1,619 / ton, and a unit price increase of 29%; Imported carbon black was 67,000 tons, down 14% year-on-year, and the average price was $3,837/ton, up 26%. In January ~ September, China imported 2266 tons of Russian carbon black, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%, and the average import price was 1494 US dollars / ton, which was significantly lower than the average export price.

In the face of the severe business situation, Shen Jinliang believes that the carbon black industry still has room for improvement in three aspects. First, in terms of exports. China's carbon black exports account for only 14.7% of the total carbon black output, far from reaching the level of 30% of the average of the rubber industry. The second is to reduce energy consumption. The fuel consumption and comprehensive energy consumption of raw materials in the carbon black industry increased by 0.6%~0.7%, and technological progress was not reflected. The third is to improve labor efficiency. China's per capita annual carbon black output is less than half of the world's top three levels, and labor efficiency is low.

For the development of the carbon black industry in the later stage, Shen Jinliang analyzed that the carbon black industry is facing the normalization of the epidemic, environmental protection, oil prices, and demand, and will continue to bear the pressure of high labor costs and high logistics costs. In the next step, the whole industry must unite and struggle, work together, resolutely encourage fuel consumption and cost reduction, persist in promoting exports, create foreign exchange, encourage and advocate more restructuring, expand production, and resolutely control output and stabilize the market.