Present Status of  Printed Circuit Board Chemicals
                         By Wen Qintang
Director of the  Material  Committee  of  China  Silk  Screen  Printing
Industrial Association
       Liu Meisheng
Secretary of the Electronic Fine Chemical Branch  of  China  Electronic
Material Industrial Association
-  Small production scale;
-  Concentrated producer distri bution;
-  Bright market prospects.
The PCB industry has been de-veloping at an astonishing speed in  China
in the recent years. The number of producers has reached more than 500
. Most of domestic producers, however, have  a  small  capacity,   only
around 10 000 m2/a in some of them. The capacity of joint venture  and
wholly foreign-owned producers usually have a capacity of 20 000 -  30
000 m2/a. The output value of PCB produced in Guangdong coastal areas,
Jiangsu and Shanghai accounts for over 80% of the national total.  The
export volume is the largest in Guangdong. Joint  venture  and  wholly
foreign-owned producers are also  concentrated  in  Guangdong  coastal
areas. Single-sided varieties, double-sided varieties, multiple- layer
varieties,   flexible  varieties  and  other  varieties  with  special
functions all have production in China. The  output  of  single- sided
varieties is the biggest today, but there is a distinct tendency  that
the development speed of double-sided and multiple-layer varieties  is
much higher than single-sided varieties. The  output  of  various  PCB
produced in China mainland in 1996 was nearly 20 million  m2  and  the
sales revenue was around 12 billion yuan.
PCB chemicals are divided into materials for base board  and  chemicals
for processing.
1. Materials for base board
(1) reinforcing materials
Among reinforcing materials for rigid base board,  the  consumption  of
glassfiber cloth is  the  biggest.   More  than  10  enterprises  have
constructed alkali-free tank furnace production  lines.   The  typical
product 7628 glassfiber cloth is mainly used as base  cloth  of  FR- 4
copper-clad board. The output of 7628  glassfiber  cloth  produced  in
China mainland in 1996 was more than 20 million  m.   Major  producers
include Zhuhai Glassfiber Co., Ltd. ,   Jiujiang  No.   5727  Factory,
Shanghai Yuehua Glass Factory and Hangzhou Glass Factory.  The  output
of Zhuhai Glassfiber Co., Ltd. is the biggest, reaching more  than  10
million m a year, and the output of  Jiujiang  No.   5727  Factory  is
around 3 million m a year. The demand  of  PCB  glassfiber  cloth  has
turned brisk in the recent years. Quite a few  foreign  companies  and
Taiwan companies have projected that there are great potentials in the
glassfiber cloth market in China mainland and come to construct wholly
-owned or joint venture producers to seize the market.  The  output  of
electronic glassfiber yard and cloth occupy a great proportion of  the
products they produce. For example, a  France company cooperated  with
China Huayuan Textile Group and constructed  a  25  million  m/a  7628
glassfiber cloth factory in Shanghai Qingpu Textile  Industrial  City,
and the factory was completed and put into operation in 1997.   Taiwan
Glass Industrial Co., Ltd. constructed a 5 500 t/a  alkali- free  tank
furnace production line in Jiangsu Kunshan producing 25 million  m  of
7628 glassfiber cloth a  year,   and  the  production  line  was  also
completed and put into operation in 1997. PPG Industrial of the United
States, a world glassfiber giant, plans to  construct  a  30  000  t/a
alkali-free tank furnace glassfiber production line in Jiangsu  Suzhou
  Industrial  Park,   the  capacity  of  general- purpose   reinforcing
glassfiber being  22 000 t/a and the capacity of electronic glassfiber
being 8 000 t/a. The production line will be completed in 1998. Besides,
the 15 000 t/a alkali-free tank furnace glassfiber  project  of  Henan
Luoyang Float Glass Group Corporation has been approved by  the  State
Development & Planning Commission.   The  capacity  of  7628glassfiber
cloth is proposed to be 20 million m/a in the project.  Compared  with
1997, the capacity  of  electronic  7628  glassfiber  cloth  in  China
mainland is therefore at least 51 million m/a higher in the first half
of 1998 and will be 80 - 100 million m/a higher in 2000.
In reinforcing materials, the variety with a consumption only  next  to
glassfiber is paper. Through  renovation  with  imported  or  advanced
domestic technologies conducted in 6 - 7 paper mills including Qingdao
Paper Mill, most of them can produce bleached wood pulp dipping paper.
The product can basically meet the  demand  in  domestic  enterprises.
Most of PCB joint venture or  wholly  foreign- owned  enterprises  use
imported fiber dipping paper.
(2) insulating adhesive materials
Among  insulating  adhesive  materials  for  rigid  base  board,    the
consumption of epoxy resin varieties is the biggest and then comes the
consumption of phenolic resin varieties. In phenolic resin  varieties,
tung oil modified varieties are used most often in  China.   They  are
usually produced  by  paper- base  and  copper- clad  board  producers
themselves and sometimes also by specialized producers. The output  is
around 5 000 tons a year today. There  are  many  producers  of  epoxy
resin varieties in China. Producers with a large capacity are two. One
is Yueyang Petrochemical Corporation which has imported the production
technology from  Kasei  Chemical