PC Needs Urgent Development

By Sun Yuxiao Polycarbonate (PC) is a thermoplastic engineering plastics with excellent comprehensive properties. Owing to its advantages such as great strength, great toughness, great thermal resistance, light weight, excellent processing behavior and stable color, PC is extensively used in vehicle, electronic/electric, construction, office equipment, packing, sports equipment, medial/health care and household appliance sectors. PC can also be blended with other monomers or resins to produce PC copolymers or PC alloys with sustain better properties.

Rapid demand growth in the world

Stimulated by the rapid market demand growth, the capacity of PC in the world increased sharply from 1.925 million t/a in 1999 to 3.2 million t/a in 2004 with an average annual growth of 10.7%. The total capacity of PC in GE Plastics, Bayer and Dow Chemical, which are the three main PC production giants, reached 2.225 million t/a in 2004, accounting for around 70% of the world total.   The market demand of PC in the world has grown rapidly in recent years. The consumption increased from 1.935 million tons in 2000 to 2.65 million tons in 2004 with an average annual growth of 8.2%. The consumption of PC in 2004 was 7 - 8% higher in Europe and the United States, and more than 10% higher in Asia as compared with 2003. The consumption of PC in the world was estimated to be 3.07 million tons in 2005. The market demand of PC in the world will continue to increase at an annual growth rate of around 8% in the next few years.   The use in compact discs is a stimulating factor for the rapid development of PC in recent years. The use in vehicles (such as headlight, window glass, instrument panel, heating board, defroster and PC alloy bumper) will be the next application sector with rapid growth. As PC has better weather resistance than other materials, it became an important substitute for vehicle glass materials. PC can be easily processed into various special profiles and meet complicated vehicle design requirements. Various large PC producers in the world have devoted themselves to the research and production of vehicle-used PC. For example, Exatee jointly established by Bayer and GE Plastics has developed and produced a variety of PC vehicle window glass, and the weight of the glass is 50% smaller than conventional window glass. The new Xenoy PC/PBT alloy for vehicle body shells developed by GE Plastics in 2001 has colored itself and can therefore remove the cost in body shell paint spraying and decrease environmental pollution.

Huge market potential in China

The consumption distribution of PC in China today is roughly 41.0% for electronic/electric and computer components, 26.3% for hollow sunlight boards, 13.1% for CD discs and DVD discs, 10.5% for drinking water buckets and food containers and 9.1% for composite materials and vehicle components.   The average annual demand growth of PC in computers and household electric appliances will be 10 - 12% in the next few years. The demand of hollow sunlight boards in railways, highways, airports and municipal projects will still be brisk and the average annual demand growth of PC in this sector will reach 12 - 15%. China has become the second largest compact disc consumer in the world, but raw materials are purely imported from abroad. Bayer started to produce PC for compact discs in Shanghai and some raw materials can therefore be used to meet the domestic demand. The average annual demand growth of PC in compact discs is expected to maintain at more than 20% in the next few years. The consumption proportion of PC in constructing thin-plate materials and vehicle components is quite high in foreign countries but relatively low in China. With the rapid development of the construction material sector and the vehicle sector in China, the demand of PC in these sectors will have a gradual increase in the future.

Strong dependence on import

The PC consumption market in China has expanded rapidly in the recent years. The consumption increased sharply from 200 thousand tons in 2000 to around 620 thousand tons in 2004 with an average annual growth of 32.7%. The PC production in China has reported low level, small scale, outdated technology, low output and poor product quality for many years. The net import amount of PC in China increased rapidly from 127 thousand tons in 1999 to 612 thousand tons in 2004 with an average annual growth of 36.96%.

Global investment focus  

The huge supply deficit in the Chinese PC market has attracted a great number of domestic and foreign investors. Foreign PC producers have constructed production units not only in China but also in other neighbouring countries and regions such as Taiwan province, Korea and Thailand. The major target market of these units is also focused on China.   The joint venture enterprise established by Bayer and Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd. has constructed a PC unit in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park. The first phase with a capacity of 100 thousand t/a will be completed in the second quarter of 2006. The capacity will be expanded to 200 thousand t/a in the second phase. The whole project will be completed between 2007 and 2008. Products will be extensively used in CD discs and DVD discs, vehicle headlight covers, anti-glare systems and roof materials.   The 50 thousand t/a PC unit constructed by Teijin Chemical in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province began production in May 2005. The capacity of the unit will be expanded to 100 thousand t/a by the end of 2006. (CCR2005, No. 19) Teijin Chemical has become the second multinational in constructing PC units in China, which is only second to Bayer.   The new-tech commercialization PC project of the state began construction in Sichuan Mianyang National Science and Education Venture Park in the end of March 2004. The project is funded by Chenguang Fada Industrial Co., Ltd. with an investment of RMB140 million in the first phase. It has a capacity of 10 thousand t/a and the production started up in the beginning of 2005. The company plans to eventually expand the capacity to 50 thousand t/a in a few years and the total investment will reach RMB2.0 billion.    The 3 thousand t/a PC project using the non-phosgene process funded by Tongling Jintai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. began construction. (CCR2005, No. 23) Blue Star Group plans to introduce technology from abroad and construct a 20 thousand t/a PC unit in Lanzhou of Gansu province in western China or Nantong of Jiangsu province in Eastern China. The feasibility study report on this project has already passed the evaluation. PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company Ltd. plans to construct a 200 thousand t/a PC unit in 2007. The project will spend a total investment of RMB3.4 billion and project promotion is in progress today. Nanjing municipal government plans to construct a 100 thousand t/a PC unit in Nanjing Chemical Industry Park and project promotion is also in progress today.   It is expected that the demand of PC in China will reach 800 thousand tons in 2006 and 1.4 million tons in 2010. Even if all joint venture and domestic-funded projects planned for construction can be completed on schedule and the capacity of PC can reach around 220 thousand t/a in 2006 and around 800 thousand t/a in 2010, there will still be a huge supply deficit at that time and great quantities of PC will still be needed to import from abroad.

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