CPVC Enters Rapid Development StageBy Zhang Jiajie  

Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) is a product from the further chlorination of PVC (polyvinyl chloride). As an important modified product of PVC, CPVC has many excellent features. It can replace some traditional thermoplastic engineering plastics and its application sectors have kept expanding in recent years.

Complete application system in advanced countries

Both the development and the application of CPVC in the world have developed rapidly in recent years. The capacity of CPVC has increased from 50 000 t/a in the 1990s to 100 000 t/a today. The demand of CPVC in the world was more than 100 000 tons in 2004. It is expected that the average annual growth will reach around 7% in next few years and the market prospect is bright.   There are more than 20 CPVC resin producers in the world today mainly concentrated in the United States, Japan, Germany and France. Noveon Chemical of the United States is the largest CPVC producer in the world and the capacity is 70 000 t/a. The capacity in Sekisui Chemicals of Japan is 20 000 t/a and the capacity in Kaneka Corp. and NCI is both 3 000 t/a. BASF of Germany, Alf Atochem of France and ICI of Britain are also major CPVC producers in the world. Based on their solid foundation in PVC production, these companies have developed special PVC varieties for the production of various high-performance CPVC resins. They have their own unique features in PVC resin selection, chlorination, post-treatment and CPVC processing. Advanced countries in the world have already established complete CPVC application systems, acquired well-developed application sectors and markets and formed modes of serialized, specialized and refined products.

Strong market demand in China

The CPVC production in China has mainly used the carbon tetrachloride solvent process for long years. The process features small scale and serious pollution. CPVC produced through this process has narrow application scope (limited to coatings and adhesives). With the restrictions imposed in the Montreal Convention, the carbon tetrachloride solvent process is already faced with the fate of being banned. Some domestic research institutes have therefore developed the advanced liquid-phase suspension production technology and made gratifying achievements. There is however still a considerable gap compared with the United States, Japan, Germany and France.   The quality of CPVC resin produced in China is much inferior to imported products. CPVC injection special materials for CPVC pipes have, in particular, failed to achieve developments. Besides, due to technical problems there are yet no specialized producers of CPVC profiles, boards and sheets in China. It is therefore imperative for domestic CPVC producers to accelerate technical upgrading and improve product quality.    The consumption of CPVC in rigid products already started in China. The consumption of CPVC resin in rigid products was around 30 000 tons in 2004 and imported resins accounted for around 40% of the total. Besides, there was also some import amount in CPVC profiles, pipes, fittings and boards. The import of CPVC resin in China is mainly made from the United States and some amounts are also imported from Japan.   The largest consumption sector of CPVC is pipes and fittings and the consumption of CPVC resin in this sector is nearly 10 000 tons a year. CPVC sockets for buried high-voltage power cables also constitute one of the major consumption sectors, the consumption of CPVC resin in it is around 12 000 tons and domestic products are mostly used. With the development of the power industry and the power grid renovation in large and medium cities, the market demand of CPVC will become greater in future. The demand of CPVC resin in coatings and adhesives is around 5 000 tons. The demand in other sectors such as resin modifiers and foam materials is around 3 000 tons a year. With the development of the CPVC product industry, the further expansion of the application market and the upgrading in the performance-price ratio, the demand of CPVC in industrial and domestic uses will have a rapid increase. Tap-water pipes, hot-water pipes and firefighting pipes will become the largest users with huge market potential.   The development of CPVC in China has achieved constant advances in recent years. A lot of achievements have been made in the improvement of production processes, the research on new stabilizers and the research on processing methods. A considerable progress has also been made in the research on impact resistance, processing feature and heat stability. The CPVC industry in China will therefore start a stage of rapid development in future.

Major CPVC Producers in China  (t/a)Producer                                                    CapacityWeifang Yaxing Chemical Co.     40 000Jiangsu Tianteng Chemical Group Co.     3 000Weifang Xuye Plastic Material Co.       2 000Qingdao Hygain Chemical Group Co.       1 000Weifang Jinshan Chemical Co.            1 000Qingdao Chengyang Chemical Plant        1 000Weifang Tianrui Chemical Co.            1 000Shandong Linqu Fada Chemical Plant      1 000Jinhua Chemical Group Co.               2 000Yixing Shanli High-Temperature Coatings Plant   2 000Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co.      1 000Jilin Chemical Industrial Group Co.     1 000Source: CNCIC Chemdata