Competition Analysis of China's Flame Retardant Industry in 2014
- time:
- 2019-05-13
In recent years, the development of halogen-based flame retardants has been greatly affected by the inclusion of decabromodiphenyl ether and hexabromocyclododecane as persistent organic pollutants, resulting in the concept of halogen-free flame retardants. Corresponding to halogen flame retardants, the concept promotes the research and manufacture of many halogen-free flame retardants, including phosphorus flame retardants. After 2005, the price of bromine continued to rise, which was in sharp contrast to the price stability of domestic phosphorus resources. The price gap between bromine and domestic phosphorus resources increased rapidly. Even the price of bromine flame retardants was more than twice that of most phosphorus flame retardants. Therefore, the rising price of brominated flame retardants has promoted the rapid growth of the market of phosphorus or phosphorus-nitrogen flame retardants in 2005-2012.
In 2012, China consumed about 474,000 tons of flame retardants, of which the proportion of phosphorus-based flame retardants ** was about 179,000 tons, up from 90,000 tons in 2008, with a growth rate of 16.4%. There are many reasons for the rapid growth of the phosphorus-containing flame retardant market. We believe that the most important reason is the high price of brominated flame retardants, which is the main competitor, followed by the downstream market, and the third is the impact of policies and regulations.
Firstly, the rising price of brominated flame retardants leads to the rapid growth of phosphorus-containing flame retardants. Global brominated flame retardant giants are concentrated in Abbott, Kojua and ICL. Since 2010, the three major companies have continuously increased their prices of flame retardants and bromine-related products. As the price of brominated flame retardants keeps rising, it will inevitably stimulate the consumption of phosphorus-containing flame retardants and promote the growth of the consumption market of phosphorus-containing flame retardants.
Secondly, the rapid development of the downstream industry has led to the consumption growth of phosphorus-containing flame retardants. Halogenated phosphates and halogenated phosphates account for 74% of the total consumption of phosphorus-containing flame retardants in China. They are mainly used in building insulation materials, fire-retardant coatings, adhesive boxes, copper clad laminates, composite materials and other areas with rapid development. Halogenated phosphates are widely used in PC/ABS alloys; ammonium polyphosphate is mainly used in fire-retardant coatings and general plastics; hypophosphites are mainly used in engineering plastics. Polyamide, polyester and other engineering plastics; red phosphorus flame retardants are mainly used for engineering plastics and general plastics; phosphorus phenanthrene flame retardants are mainly used for copper clad laminates.
According to the investigation report of the flame retardant industry, China began to study the synthesis and application of ammonium polyphosphate in the 1980s. In recent years, the development is particularly rapid. In 2003, the domestic ammonium polyphosphate consumption reached 80,000 tons, while in 2012 it reached 26,000 tons, showing a continuous growth trend. With the strengthening of national requirements for flame retardant technology, phosphorus flame retardants will continue to play a role of steady development with their price advantages in the future development.
The flame retardant industry is increasingly developing into a globalized industry. On the one hand, many flame retardant companies are participating in worldwide trade. The competition in the industry is not limited to the competition of enterprises in a country or region, but the competition among the participants in the global market. On the other hand, the flame retardant regulations in a country or region often affect the global industry. Rules have an impact. For example, manufacturers of end products such as electronic consumer goods, even though there are no mandatory regulations on flame retardant products in the countries and regions where they are registered, if their products are to be sold to the international market, they must pass the flame retardant standards of the selling or importing countries. Therefore, in order to sell their products to as many countries and regions as possible, manufacturers of export-oriented products tend to adopt the most stringent national flame retardant standard formulations, which promotes the development of the whole industry chain of flame retardant products worldwide.
