Tensile structure manufacturer: Yexing tensile structure
Research on the Specialty plastics Industry: PEEK and LCP materials have great demand potential and broad space for domestic substitution
The market for special engineering plastics is expected to continue to grow at a relatively fast pace
Plastics are a type of synthetic polymer materials with plasticity, which can be classified into general-purpose plastics, engineering plastics and special engineering plastics. General-purpose plastics mainly refer to bulk plastics with large production volumes and wide applications, including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), acrylic acid – butadiene styrene (ABS), etc. Engineering plastics are plastics that can withstand certain external forces, have good mechanical properties and dimensional stability, and maintain their excellent performance at high and low temperatures. They can be used as engineering structural components, including polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC), polyoxymethylene (POM), thermoplastic polyester (PBT), etc.
Specialty engineering plastics refer to a category of engineering plastics with relatively high comprehensive performance and long-term service temperatures above 150℃, including polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyimide (PI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and polysulfone (PSF), etc. Among them, special engineering plastics, compared with ordinary engineering plastics, have the advantages of high temperature resistance, high strength and fatigue resistance. [To learn more about industry knowledge such as’ plastics’, ‘engineering plastics’ and’ modified plastics’, a vast amount of material super physical property tables, numerous material selection cases and cost reduction and efficiency improvement solutions, welcome to search for “Plastic Warehouse Network” across the web or search for the Plastic Warehouse Network mini-program on wechat to enter and learn more!!] With special properties such as creep resistance and chemical resistance, it is widely used in numerous fields including aerospace, military industry, electronic appliances, automobiles, home appliances, kitchen and bathroom, transportation, medical devices, mechanical manufacturing, and precision machinery. Compared with engineering plastics, special engineering plastics have better performance, stricter technical standards and higher added value. Special engineering plastics, as new polymer materials, are the third generation of plastics developed after general-purpose plastics and engineering plastics. They have the advantages of heat resistance, insulation, corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength. With the advent of eras such as 5G communication, semiconductor, and material upgrades in the medical industry, the replacement speed of traditional materials by special engineering plastics has further accelerated.
Source: “Prospectus of Fuheng New Materials’ Public Offering of Shares to Unspecified Qualified Investors and Listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange”, Dongguan Securities Research Institute
Source: Publicly available on the Internet
High-performance polyamides, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), sulfone polymers, and liquid crystal polymers (LCP) are the main varieties of special engineering plastics in China. In China, special engineering plastics have increasingly attracted market attention due to their outstanding physical, chemical and mechanical properties, as well as their wide application in numerous fields. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, the total consumption of special engineering plastics in China accounts for approximately 0.1% of the total plastic consumption, and their consumption amount makes up about 2% of the plastic market. In terms of various categories, in China’s special engineering plastics market, high-performance polyamide, polyphenylene sulfide, sulfone polymers, and liquid crystal polymers account for 29%, 33%, 8%, and 24% respectively, and the total proportion of these four materials exceeds 90%.
In recent years, the global and Chinese markets for specialty engineering plastics have witnessed remarkable growth. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, the global market size of specialty engineering plastics increased from 65.2 billion yuan in 2018 to 94 billion yuan in 2022, with an average annual compound growth rate of 9.58%. [Learn more about industry knowledge such as’ plastics’, ‘engineering plastics’, and’ modified plastics’, a vast collection of material super physical property tables, numerous material selection cases, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement solutions Welcome to search for “Suku Network” across the Internet or search for the Suku Network mini-program on wechat to learn more!! 】” This is attributed to the rapid development of the global manufacturing industry. In particular, the rapid growth of China’s high-end manufacturing industries, such as aerospace, has greatly driven the demand for special engineering plastics. From 2018 to 2022, the market for special engineering plastics in China increased from 7.2 billion yuan to 13.5 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate as high as 16.9%. This highlights the huge potential of the Chinese market and the wide application of special engineering plastics.
Looking ahead, with the continuous upgrading of R&D and production technologies, the application of special engineering plastics in various fields will become more extensive. The global and Chinese markets for special engineering plastics are expected to maintain a growth trend in the coming years. Frost & Sullivan predicts that by 2027, the global market size of specialty engineering plastics will reach 138.2 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.01%. This indicates that the global specialty engineering plastics market will continue to maintain a relatively fast growth rate. In China, the development prospects of the special engineering plastics industry are more optimistic. Frost & Sullivan predicts that driven by policy support, a complete plastic industry supply chain and cost advantages of products, China’s specialty engineering plastics market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.53%, reaching a market size of 21.2 billion yuan by 2027. This growth rate is higher than the global average, fully demonstrating the huge development potential of China’s special engineering plastics industry.
1.2 There is a high degree of import dependence and a large space for domestic production
Given that China’s special engineering plastics industry started relatively late, there is a certain gap between its production scale and technical level and those of international advanced enterprises. Therefore, domestic demand for such materials mainly relies on imports. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, China’s overall self-sufficiency rate of specialty engineering plastics was only 36% in 2021, with a high degree of import dependence. Among them, the self-sufficiency levels of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyaryletherketone (PAEK) were relatively high, reaching 65% and 50% respectively, while the self-sufficiency rates of other products were all less than 50%. At present, enterprises such as DuPont of the United States, Solvay of Belgium, Sumitomo of Japan, BASF of Germany and Wiggs of the United Kingdom have occupied a relatively high share in the domestic market by virtue of their first-mover advantages.
The self-sufficiency capacity of China’s special engineering plastics industry in 2021
Source: Frost & Sullivan – “Global and China PEEK Market Overview”, Dongguan Securities Research Institute (Note: Other products include poly1, 4-cyclohexanedimethyl terephthalate (PCT), polyaryl ester (PAR), thermoplastic polyimide (PI), and polyamide-imide (PAI), etc. Consumption is calculated based on pure resin.)
In recent years, China has been resolutely promoting economic transformation and upgrading as well as the optimization of industrial structure. The demand for import substitution of special engineering plastics has become increasingly prominent. Meanwhile, the domestic industry’s independent innovation capacity has been continuously enhanced, and the demand for imported alternative materials with independent intellectual property rights has shown a sustained growth trend. Learn more about industry knowledge such as “plastics”, “engineering plastics”, and “modified plastics”, as well as a vast collection of super physical property tables of materials, numerous material selection cases, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement solutions. Welcome to search for “Suku Network” across the Internet or search for the Suku Network mini-program on wechat to learn more!! 】” . In recent years, a series of industrial policies have been introduced one after another, aiming to support the development of the special engineering plastics industry, providing a strong guarantee for Chinese manufacturers to break through bottlenecks and accelerate the process of domestic substitution.
In January 2021, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation released the “Development Guide for the Petroleum and Chemical Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period”, clearly stating that “for engineering plastics and special engineering plastics, efforts should be made to increase the self-sufficiency rate to 85% by 2025, among which special polyester engineering plastics with a better foundation should achieve net exports.” As a new type of polymer material, special engineering plastics are one of the key areas in the development of new materials in China and belong to the high-tech industry that the state encourages and supports.
In December 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and two other departments jointly released the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Raw Materials Industry” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan clearly states that “the comprehensive competitiveness of steel, high-strength aluminum alloys, rare and precious metal materials, special engineering plastics, high-performance membrane materials, fiber new materials, and composite materials used in advanced manufacturing basic components should be enhanced.” New materials such as special engineering plastics and high-performance membrane materials are important guarantees for promoting the development of China’s new energy, aerospace, information technology and other industries. Accelerating the research and development as well as application of these new materials will help enhance China’s core competitiveness in these fields.
In April 2022, six departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission of China jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period”. The guiding opinions clearly state that it is necessary to optimize and integrate industry-related R&D platforms, and establish innovation centers in fields such as high-end polyolefins, high-performance engineering plastics, high-performance membrane materials, biomedical materials, and carbon dioxide capture and utilization. The guiding opinions also emphasize the need to strengthen the role of national platforms for demonstration, testing and evaluation, and experimental inspection of new materials production and application, and promote common technological innovation in catalytic materials, process intensification, structural characterization of polymer materials, and processing application technologies and equipment.
In June 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and other departments jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Light Industry”, which clearly states that to learn more about industry knowledge such as “plastics”, “engineering plastics”, and “modified plastics”, a vast amount of material super physical property tables, numerous material selection cases, and cost reduction and efficiency improvement plans, Welcome to search for “Suku Network” across the Internet or search for the Suku Network mini-program on wechat to learn more!! 】” An important task in promoting the high-quality development of the light industry is to intensify efforts to upgrade and innovate products. Among them, the upgrading and innovation product manufacturing engineering covers fields such as high-end plastics for 5G communication, special engineering plastics, blood purification plastics, and high-end optical films. This guiding opinion provides a clear direction for the development of China’s light industry, indicating that innovation and development in high-end plastics and special engineering plastics for 5G communication will help China’s light industry climb to the high end of the global value chain.
In October 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission released the “Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries (2022 Edition)”. The section on the production of engineering plastics and plastic alloys in this catalogue The products that are encouraged for investment include polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone, polyimide, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyaryl ester (PAR), polyphenylene ether, special polyamide (PA) and its modified materials, liquid crystal polymers, etc.
In October 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission of China officially released the “Encouraged Foreign Investment Industry Catalogue (2022 Edition)”. In this catalogue, for the production field of engineering plastics and plastic alloys, the Chinese government strongly advocates that foreign investment be involved in a wide range of high-performance plastic products, including polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone, polyimide, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyaryl ester (PAR), polyphenylene ether, special polyamide (PA) and its modified materials, liquid crystal polymers, etc. Plastic materials such as polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone and polyimide are widely used in aerospace, new energy vehicles, electronic communications, medical equipment and other fields, and have a profound impact on promoting the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce of China jointly issued the “Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Light Industry (2023-2024)”. The plan clearly states that it is necessary to vigorously expand the application of special engineering plastics, high-end optical films, battery separators and other materials in the corresponding fields. Special engineering plastics, with their outstanding performance, have been widely applied in fields such as national defense and military industry, aerospace, etc., for instance, aircraft fuselages and missile components. High-end optical films play a significant role in the electronic information industry, such as the display screens of smart phones, tablet computers and other products. Expanding the application of these materials in various fields will help enhance the technological level of China’s light industry, optimize product quality and performance, and meet the continuously growing market demand. At the same time, this will also promote technological innovation and industrial development in China’s defense and military industry, aerospace, new energy, electronic information, transportation and other fields, and achieve the upgrading and optimization of the industrial chain.
In recent years, thanks to the continuous promotion of China’s national industrial policies, remarkable progress has been made in the field of special engineering plastics. The gap with the international advanced level has gradually narrowed, and the competitive advantages of products have become increasingly prominent. However, from a global perspective, there is still much room for improvement in the self-sufficiency rate of high-end engineering plastics, demonstrating huge potential for development.
Yexing Membrane Structure # Membrane Structure Manufacturer # Tensile Structure
She has over 20 years of experience in tensile membrane structure design, engineering, and manufacturing, with extensive expertise in delivering custom solutions for commercial and architectural projects.
