First, the operating status of cellulose ether industry
With the rapid development of construction, food, medicine, daily chemicals and other industries, the global market demand for non-ionic cellulose ether products has risen rapidly in recent years. After 2000, cellulose ether industry rapid development in our country, the product is rich, and perfecting the enterprise scale unceasingly on the steps, a batch of thousand tons into each business enterprise success, products from low to high viscosity, viscosity from a single product to the distribution of products are gradually entering the application market, significantly improve product quality, mid-range products gradually to the international level, From importing country to exporting country. At present, domestic cellulose ether production enterprises in about 70, mainly distributed in Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Hebei and Chongqing and other places. According to data released by the China Cellulose Industry Association, the total output of cellulose ether in China in 2017 was 373,300 tons, up 17.3% year on year. Which is mainly used in building materials, medicine and food HPMC represented by non-ionic cellulose ether cellulose ether industry development highlights and new driving force, 2017 output of about 180,000 tons, accounting for about 48% of the total output of domestic cellulose ether.
Cellulose ether is the main additive that affects the construction performance of mortar. The amount of cellulose ether is very low, but it can significantly improve the operating performance of mortar products. It is an important part of ordinary dry mixed mortar and special dry mixed mortar. HPMC in dry mixed mortar as a representative of the non-ionic cellulose ether, is widely used in sealing, surface coating, paste ceramic tile and added in cement mortar. Especially in cement mortar mixed with a small amount of HPMC can increase viscosity, water retention, slow coagulation and air induction effect, significantly improve the ceramic tile binder, putty and other products bond performance, frost resistance and heat resistance, tensile and shear strength, so as to improve the construction performance of building materials, improve the construction quality and mechanized construction efficiency.
In recent years, with the increasing attention of the state to urban environmental protection, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other relevant departments have promulgated and implemented a series of regulations on the use of dry mixed mortar. At present, more than 300 cities in China have introduced relevant policies for the use of dry mixed mortar. The rapid promotion of dry mixed mortar has driven the growth of HPMC market demand. In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the promotion of the use of new building materials (including new wall materials, thermal insulation materials, building waterproof materials, building decoration materials and other four categories of basic materials) is the direction of development advocated by the national industry, the future OF HPMC products will have a lot of space for development.
In the total amount of building materials grade cellulose ether, building materials grade cellulose ether in 2017 dosage of 123,000 tons or so, cellulose ether several main applications for ceramic tile binder, wall insulation system supporting mortar, putty, ordinary dry mixed mortar, gypsum based products, sealant, decorative mortar, ALC masonry mortar and plastering mortar, interface agent. Among the above applications, the insulation industry and ready-mixed mortar industry are highly dependent on new construction, while the other applications have been deeply involved in the renovation and renovation of existing buildings, which can be said to be in a growth channel. According to this estimate, the total market demand will increase in 2018.
Foreign cellulose ether industry started earlier, with Dow Chemical, Yiletai, Ashlan group as the representative of the production enterprises in the production formula and process is in an absolute leading position. Limited by technology, domestic cellulose ether enterprises mainly produce low value-added products with relatively simple process route and relatively low product purity, and high technology and high value-added products have not been popularized in China. Building materials grade cellulose ether project construction cycle is short, the product is widely used, so there is a phenomenon of disorderly expansion of the industry, disorderly competition in the market leads to excess capacity, never complete statistical data, the current capacity of cellulose ether in China is about 250,000 tons, most of them are low-end building materials grade products.
With the improvement of state requirements for environmental protection, 2015 countries established strict wastewater, waste gas emissions requirements, by stealing, not production wastewater treatment, the volatile product and by-product salt enterprise gradually regulated, not ability improvement of enterprises gradually be eliminated, in hebei, shandong and other places, some small cellulose ether enterprises have been shut down, The disorderly competition of cellulose ether industry will be improved.
Two, cellulose ether industry development of the main factors
(a) the beneficial factors affecting the development of cellulose ether industry
1. National policy support and promotion efforts are intensified
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the building materials industry “twelfth Five-Year” development plan “pointed out that building materials grade cellulose ether as a high-performance additive, can improve the water retention of building materials, viscosity, energy saving, environmental protection, in line with the national industrial policy orientation. “New building materials” twelfth Five-year “development plan” pointed out that safety, environmental protection, energy saving new building materials (including new wall materials, thermal insulation materials, building waterproof materials, building decoration materials and other four categories of basic materials) is “twelfth five-year” during the development of new building materials. Adding cellulose ether can improve and optimize the performance of new wall materials, building decoration materials and other building materials, including gypsum board, thermal insulation mortar, dry mixing mortar, PVC resin, latex paint, etc., in line with the requirements of energy saving and environmental protection. The state encourages the development of new building materials, which is conducive to increasing the demand for HPMC in the domestic market.
2, the national economy to promote the development of the industry
Over the past 30 years, China’s national economy has maintained a sustained and rapid development trend, the overall level of the relevant industry and people’s living standards have also been greatly improved, cellulose ether is known as “industrial MONOsodium glutamate”, is widely used in various fields of the national economy, economic development will inevitably drive the growth of cellulose ether industry. With the enhancement of people’s health and environmental awareness, HPMC such non-ionic cellulose ether will gradually replace other materials, and be widely used and developed.
3. Increasing market demand and promising development prospect
According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, energy consumption in buildings accounts for more than 28 percent of China’s total energy consumption. Of the nearly 40 billion square meters of existing buildings, 99% are energy-intensive, with heating energy consumption per unit area equivalent to 2-3 times that of developed countries with similar latitude. In 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development put forward the “Twelfth Five-Year” Building Energy Conservation Special Plan, which proposed that by 2015, the goal of 800 million square meters of new green buildings; By the end of the planning period, more than 20% of new urban buildings will meet the green building standards, the output of new wall materials will account for more than 65% of the total wall materials, and the proportion of building applications will reach more than 75%. HPMC as a new building material additive, will replace the traditional cellulose ether will be applied to new building materials products, the market prospects are broad.
(B) the adverse factors affecting the development of cellulose ether industry
1, the number of production enterprises, disorderly competition is fierce
Cellulose ether project construction cycle is short, leading to domestic and foreign enterprises have entered the field, so that the phenomenon of expansion frequent. Among them, there are a large number of small production enterprises, most of which have limited capital investment, low technical level, simple production equipment, incomplete environmental protection measures, and serious environmental pollution in the production process. The low price products brought by low cost flood the market, resulting in uneven price and quality of products, and the market is in a state of disordered competition. In recent years, environmental protection has been taken seriously by the state, and the requirements of production enterprises have been improved. Some small enterprises unable to rectify and upgrade will gradually withdraw from the market, and disorderly competition of cellulose ether will be improved.
2. The domestic industry started late with low technical level
Cellulose ether industry started earlier in developed countries, international well-known manufacturers are the main suppliers of the global high-end market, and master the advanced application technology of cellulose ether. China’s cellulose ether industry started late, compared with developed countries, China is engaged in the research and production of cellulose ether in the field of fewer personnel, high level of professional talent reserve is obviously insufficient, there is a certain gap in the research and development and application technology of cellulose ether. Affected by the insufficient application of technology and talent reserve, domestic cellulose ether production enterprises to produce general products, for the specific needs of downstream customers personalized products less, it is difficult to fully meet customer needs, weaken the added value of products and market competitiveness.