Modified plastics are widely used in many national pillar industries and emerging industries such as home appliances, automobiles, and communications. The downstream application fields of modified plastics include home appliances, automobiles, electrical and electronic, office equipment, and power tools. Among them, home appliances and automobiles are the current The most important downstream application industry of plastics.

At present, domestic high-end modified plastics are still mainly imported. With the increase of domestic environmental protection pressure and the intensification of global competition, the industry concentration is expected to further increase, and the industry's leading enterprises may usher in development opportunities.

Huge market development space

At present, the competition pattern of the domestic modified plastics industry can be divided into three levels, namely, large-scale foreign-funded enterprises, large-scale domestic-funded enterprises, and small domestic-funded enterprises. Large-scale foreign-funded enterprises still occupy a major position in the high-end market of modified plastics. Statistics show that there are currently more than 3,000 domestic modified plastics enterprises, but only more than 70 enterprises with a production capacity of more than 3,000 tons, and few domestic-funded enterprises with a production capacity of more than 10,000 tons.

For most small domestic-funded enterprises, due to their small production scale, it is usually difficult to enter the supplier system of large automobile manufacturers and home appliance customers, and orders are mostly obtained through cooperation or OEM. However, the modified plastics industry has been developing for many years in many developed countries, and large international chemical companies such as BASF, Dow, DuPont, SABIC, etc.

Most of the domestic modified plastics enterprises started to emerge after the development of the domestic home appliance and automobile industries. Although the development speed has been rapid in recent years, there is still a certain gap between the comprehensive competitiveness and the international large-scale chemical enterprises. At present, the domestic high-end modified plastics market is still It is mainly imported, and the demand for import substitution is relatively large.

However, in recent years, large-scale domestic enterprises have begun to catch up, increasing investment in research and development, and gradually narrowing the technological gap with large international enterprises. Some enterprises have gradually penetrated into the high-end market by researching and developing functional and high-performance products. On the other hand, as my country's upstream petrochemical enterprises continue to strengthen the independent research and development of products, it also drives the overall innovation speed of the domestic modified plastics industry.

Market demand is constantly increasing. It is predicted that by 2025, the demand for modified plastics in the automotive sector alone will reach 1,180.24 tons, of which the demand for modified plastics for new energy vehicles will reach 2,362,100 tons. Driven by the domestic trend of "replacing wood with plastic", "using plastic strip steel", automobile lightweight, and high performance of home appliance materials, there is a huge space for plastic modification rate in my country.

Promote the development of lightweight vehicles

As far as the automobile market is concerned, the application of modified plastics in automobiles accounts for about 19% of the share. At present, automobiles are undergoing a major transformation from traditional electromechanical products and vehicles to large-scale mobile intelligent terminals. Intelligence and light weight are the development directions for the upgrading of the automobile industry.

Modified plastic materials have become one of the important starting points for the realization of the lightweight goal of automobiles due to their low density, high strength, and good molding process performance. Despite the impact of chip shortages and repeated epidemics, the auto market will still achieve recovery growth in 2021.

According to the data released by the China Automobile Association, in 2021, my country's automobile production and sales will be 26.082 million and 26.275 million, an increase of 3.4% and 3.8% year-on-year respectively. According to the consumption of 150kg of modified plastics per vehicle, the current demand for modified plastics in my country's automobile field is 3.91 million tons or so.

With the promotion of policies such as "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality", the advantages of modified plastics in weight reduction and consumption reduction will promote the continuous growth of demand in the automobile manufacturing industry. The Society of Automotive Engineers of China stated in the "Technical Roadmap 2.0 for Energy-Saving and New Energy Vehicles" that by 2035, the lightweight coefficient of passenger vehicles will be reduced by at least 25%. In today's automotive market environment, strict carbon emission regulations and fierce competition are combined leading to rapid changes throughout the automotive supply chain.

According to the data, 1kg of modified plastic can replace 2-3kg of steel and other materials with higher density, and every 10% reduction in vehicle weight reduces fuel consumption by 6%-8%. Therefore, from the perspective of environmental protection, it is imminent to reduce the weight of automobiles, and modified plastics are the key to realizing the lightweight of automobiles.

Promote the intelligent transformation of home appliances

In addition, modified plastics are also the most widely used in the field of household appliances, accounting for up to 34%. With the characteristics of light weight, high strength, excellent electrical insulation performance, and excellent chemical stability, the shells, blades and exteriors of household appliances are widely used. The demand for modified plastics for accessories such as these has steadily increased. Among them, modified plastics in refrigerators and washing machines account for about 30-40% of the raw materials.

Especially in the field of small household appliances, kitchen utensils, personal care and other products, all use modified plastics. Common small household appliances include electric pressure cooker, induction cooker, noodle maker, steamed bread maker, soy milk maker, cooking machine, juicer, boiling water cooker, hair dryer, hair straightener, razor and so on. How to reasonably apply modified plastic materials to reduce the cost of small household appliances and ensure product quality is one of the important ways for products to occupy the market.

Common modified plastics in the field of household appliances include modified PBT, modified PET, modified PA, modified PPO, etc. for internal parts, and modified PP, ABS, PC/ABS, etc. for appearance parts and shells. In addition, with the rise of smart home appliances, most of the modified plastics used in home appliances are required to be flame retardant, and according to different uses, they are required to meet conditions such as high glow wire, high leakage tracking, and high RTI.

As a major producer and consumer of household appliances, China will produce 218.357 million air conditioners in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%; China's refrigerator output will be 89.921 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 0.4%; and washing machine production will be 86.185 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%.

Modified plastics have more incomparable advantages than other materials in terms of basic properties such as flame retardancy, strength, weather resistance, environmental protection, ease of molding, rich colors, shock absorption and noise reduction. The demand for modified plastics will continue to increase and the application scenarios will become more diverse.