The Annual Import Demand is Millions of Tons! These Special Engineering Plastics Still Need Enterprises to Increase Production Capacity

Special engineering plastics, that is, on the basis of engineering plastics, through technological improvements or differences in raw material selection, the preparation of plastics, and this type of plastics generally have better overall performance, and the use temperature is above 150 ° C, So it is called "specialty" plastic. The research on this plastic first started in the 1960s, and European and American countries and regions conducted in-depth research on this material and developed the earliest special engineering plastic-polyimide, and in the 1980s, a more famous one was developed. Polyetheretherketone, these special engineering plastics have been widely used in many high-tech industries.

The research on special engineering plastics in China is slightly slower than that in foreign countries. It only started in the 1990s. At present, special engineering plastics are in the early stage of development in my country, and the scale has not been expanded to meet domestic demand, so it still needs to be imported. The degree of foreign dependence exceeds 70%. The specific conditions of different special engineering plastics are as follows:

Semi-aromatic polyamide
The dependence is about 70%, and the demand is still increasing

Semi-aromatic polyamide (Polyphthalamide, PPA for short) is a thermoplastic functional nylon, which is formed by the polycondensation of aliphatic diamine or diacid and diacid or diamine containing benzene ring. Compared with aliphatic polyamides, due to the introduction of a rigid benzene ring into the molecular chain, the mechanical strength and heat resistance are greatly improved, and the water absorption rate is greatly reduced; compared with aromatic polyamides, semi-aromatic polyamides There are more flexible aliphatic structures in the molecular weight and lower melting point, which effectively improves the processing properties of aromatic polyamides. Based on the above characteristics, PPA has become the most commonly used special engineering plastics after years of improvement and development.

There are probably several grades of PPA on the market: PA12T, PA11T, PA10T and the most PA6T. Here, PA6T is used as an example. Since the melting point of PA6T produced by homopolymerization exceeds the temperature required for decomposition, a third type of PPA will be added in production. The monomer method lowers its melting point, so commercial PA6T is basically a copolymerization product.

According to incomplete statistics, the current foreign PPA production capacity has exceeded 150,000 tons per year, and the production enterprises are also very large and mature in technology, such as DuPont in the United States, DSM in the Netherlands, Emmans in Switzerland, and Solvay in Belgium. , Germany's BASF, France's Arkema and Japan's Mitsui Chemicals Co., Ltd., Kuraray Co., Ltd., etc.

At present, the total domestic production capacity of semi-aromatic polyamide resin is about 16,000 tons/year. The main manufacturers include Guangdong Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd., Guangdong Jiangmen Dezhongtai Engineering Plastic Technology Co., Ltd., Qingdao Sanli Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Xinfa Technology Co., Ltd. Hecheng Co., Ltd. Among them, Guangdong Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd. is the largest PPA manufacturer in China, mainly producing PA10T. From the perspective of demand, the domestic demand for semi-aromatic polyamide increased by more than 10% from 2016 to 2020, and the demand last year reached 33,000 tons. However, due to the lack of competitiveness of domestic semi-aromatic polyamide products, consumption still relies heavily on imports, and the import dependence exceeds 70%.

At present, the consumption of PPA products is mainly concentrated in the fields of electronics, automobiles, consumer goods, aerospace and military industries. Among them, electronics and automobiles are the main consumer markets, together accounting for more than 85% of the total consumption. It is estimated that in the next five years, my country's demand for PPA will maintain a growth rate of more than 8%, and the demand will reach 50,000 tons per year by 2025. The rapid development of the currently very hot electronics industry will be the main driving force for the growth of demand.

liquid crystal polymer
Dependency is about 80%, and demand growth rate is about 6%

Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) refers to a material with a rigid structure containing a large number of benzene rings in aromatic polyester materials. Under certain conditions, it can exist in a rare liquid crystal state, and the form after cooling. can be kept. In addition to good mechanical properties, LCP also has excellent properties such as high temperature resistance, natural flame retardant, high impact resistance, etc. It is commonly used in the fields of electronics, automobiles, defense and military industries.

At present, the global liquid crystal polymer production capacity is about 78,000 tons/year, concentrated in the United States and Japan, accounting for about 80% of the global total production capacity. Major producers include Celanese Corporation of the United States, Polyplastics Corporation of Japan, Sumitomo Group of Japan, Toray Corporation of Japan, etc. Among them, Celanese Corporation of the United States and Polyplastics Corporation of Japan each account for more than half of the production capacity of the United States and Japan, and the industry concentration is relatively high.

my country entered the field of liquid crystal polymers relatively late. In recent years, a number of projects have been put into operation one after another, and the production capacity has grown rapidly. By last year, the domestic production capacity reached 18,000 tons/year. The main manufacturers include Shenzhen Water New Materials Co., Ltd., Guangdong Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Plit Composite Materials Co., Ltd., and Ningbo Jujia New Material Technology Co., Ltd. Among them, Shenzhen Water New Materials Co., Ltd. has become the largest LCP production enterprise in China with its excellent production capacity, with a production capacity of 8,000 tons per year, accounting for about 45% of the country's total production capacity. Overall, it is expected that in the future, driven by the demand in the fields of electronic appliances and automobiles, the total consumption of liquid crystal polymers will maintain a growth rate of more than 6%, and the total consumption will exceed 40,000 tons by 2025.

Polyimide
The degree of dependence is reduced to 25%, and localization is gradually realized

Polyimide (PI) refers to the emerging special engineering plastics containing imide rings in aromatic heterocyclic polymers. It has the characteristics of corrosion resistance, high electrical insulation and high modulus. The most promising engineering plastics in the 21st century.

Polyimide film has excellent performance and is known as one of the three key polymer materials for the development of high-tech industries in my country. At present, there are about 70 polyimide film production enterprises in China, with a production capacity of more than 100 tons. With the increasing demand for high-end electronic-grade polyimide films, domestic enterprises have begun to enter high-performance products.

At present, domestic enterprises with above-scale production capacity of electronic grade polyimide film include Hunan Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Danbang Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Ruihuatai Film Technology Co., Ltd., etc. With the accumulation of relevant R&D and technical talents in my country, and the benefits of relevant policies, the development of polyimide films in my country has been accelerated, and the localization of high-end products has been gradually replaced, and the import dependence has dropped to 25%.