PTFE Capacity Increases Rapidly

PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) is a major variety of fluorine
resins in China and its capacity accounts for around 90% of the
fluorine resin capacity. It mainly includes suspended resin,
dispersed resin and concentrated dispersion fluid and their
consumption accounts for 50-60%, 20-35% and 15-20% of the total
respectively. PTFE suspended resin is mainly used in sealing
rings, gasket, chemical equipment components/linings, electric
insulation parts and films. PTFE dispersed resin is mainly used
in automobiles, coated textiles, non-automobile pipes, electric
wires/cables and chemical pipe linings. PTFE concentrated
dispersion fluid is mainly used in anti-stick coatings and
impregnated textiles (such as surface coatings of fiberglass)
in food, textile and papermaking sectors and also in
self-lubricating and self-cleaning mechanical parts.

Rapid output increase

Major PTFE producing regions in China include Shanghai, Jiangsu
province, Zhejiang province, Shandong province, Sichuan
province and Liaoning province. Major producers include
Shanghai 3F New Materials Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Meilan Group,
Zhejiang Jusheng Fluorochemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Dongyue
Chemical Group, Jinan 3F Fluoro- Chemical Co., Ltd., Chenguang
Research Institute of Chemical Industry and Fuxin Hengtong
Fluorochem Co., Ltd. In recent years local producers have
increased input, improved process and expanded production scale
through the commercialization of technologies and research
achievements and the technical cooperation or joint venture with
foreign companies. The capacity of PTFE has kept increasing at
a two-digit rate. By the end of 2005, the capacity of PTFE in
China including the plant constructed by Daikin of Japan in
Changshu, Jiangsu province already reached more than 40 thousand
t/a. The output of PTFE in China was 27 thousand tons in 2005,
an increase of over 13.7% over 2004. The output of suspended
resin accounted for 72.78% of the total PTFE output and an
increase of 13.24% over 2004. The top three suspended resin
producers included Shandong Dongyue Chemical Group, Shanghai 3F
New Materials Co., Ltd. and Chenguang Research Institute of
Chemical Industry and their output accounted respectively for
31.79%, 21.88% and 13.79% of the total suspended resin output.
The output of dispersed resin accounted for 19.71% of the total
PTFE output and an increase of 11.43% over 2004. The top three
dispersed resin producers included Shandong Dongyue Chemical
Group, Chenguang Research Institute of Chemical Industry and
Zhejiang Jusheng Fluorochemical Co., Ltd. and their output
accounted respectively for 31.79%, 21.88% and 13.79% of the
total dispersed resin output. The output of concentrated
dispersion fluid accounted for 7.51% of the total PTFE output.
The top three concentrated dispersion fluid producers included
Chenguang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Shanghai 3F
New Materials Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Jusheng Fluorochemical Co.,
Ltd. and their output accounted respectively for 40.19%, 35.59%
and 13.20% of the total concentrated dispersion fluid output.

Stable demand growth

The consumption of PTFE in China was nearly 30 thousand tons in
2005. Major consumption sectors roughly included the
petrochemical sector (33%), the machinery sector (24%), the
electronic/electric sector (12%), the light industry sector
(cooking utensils and daily-use articles) (10%), the textile
sector (6%), the construction sector (4%), the
aviation/spaceflight sector (2%) and other sectors (9%).
   The petrochemical sector is one of the most important
consumption sectors for PTFE. Owing to its special features in
corrosion resistance and high-temperature resistance, PTFE is
used in high-temperature and high-corrosion equipment, valves
and pipes. The petrochemical industry is one of the pillar
sectors in the national economy of China and is also one of the
sectors with future development priority. With the improvement
of the technical level in the petrochemical industry,
requirements on equipment will be more stringent. The
consumption of PTFE in the petrochemical industry will continue
to increase at an annual rate of 5 - 7%.
    The machinery sector is another major consumption sector for
PTFE. Owing to its features in friction resistance and
self-lubrication, PTFE is processed into various mechanical
components to meet the requirements in different uses and
especially used in the production of dynamic sealing components
such as sealing parts of piston compressors. With the
improvement of the machinery and equipment level, the demand of
PTFE will further increase.
    The electronic/electric sector has developed rapidly in
China in recent years. The output of colored television sets and
refrigerators in China already holds a leading position in the
world and will still maintain a trend of rapid growth. Although
the consumption of PTFE in this sector is still quite low today,
it will become a market with the most rapid consumption growth
of PTFE.
   Besides, the demand of PTFE in construction, textile and
light industry sectors will also increase drastically in China.

Import and export

The output, variety and quality of PTFE produced in China can
basically meet the demand in machinery, petrochemical,
aviation/spaceflight and electronic/electric sectors. China,
the United States, Japan and the European Union have become four
major production and consumption regions of fluorine-containing
polymer materials in the world. Due to the inadequate input in
technical improvement, however, product quality and product
variety still can not meet the increasing demand in the domestic
market and there is a considerable gap compared with DuPont,
Daikin and 3M. High-quality PTFE has to mainly depend on import.
   China imported 6 351.5 tons of PTFE from 26 countries and
regions in 2005, an increase of 14.26% over 2004. The import
value was US$67.123151 million and the average import price was
US$10 568 per ton. Major importers included DuPont China Holding
Co., Ltd., Daikin Chemical International Trading (Shanghai) Co.,
Ltd., Suzhou Nichias Industrial Products Co., Ltd., Shanghai
Sankai Import and Export Co., Ltd., GE Plastics China Co., Ltd.,
Shanghai Valqua Fluorocarbon Products Co., Ltd., GE Plastic
Shanghai Co., Ltd., DuPont Trading Service Co., Ltd., Fong’s
National Engineering (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. and Daikin Fluoro
Coatings (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. In terms of import amount they were
the top ten importers of PTFE in 2005. Their import amount
accounted respectively for 16.94%, 11.27%, 4.88%, 4.41%, 4.21%,
4.08%, 3.22%, 2.12%, 2.03% and 1.92% of the total.
   China exported 9 263.9 tons of PTFE to 53 countries and
regions in 2005, an increase of 17.04% over 2004. Major exporters
included Shandong Dongyue Polymer Material Co., Ltd., Shanghai
3F New Materials Co., Ltd., Daikin Fluoro Chemicals (China) Co.,
Ltd., Jinan 3F Fluoro- Chemical Co., Ltd., Qingdao Taike Polymer
Co., Ltd., Nanjing Haorui Trading Co., Ltd., Chenguang Research
Institute of Chemical Industry, Zhejiang Jusheng Fluorochemical
Co., Ltd., Jinan Sinoflon New Material Co., Ltd. and Qingdao
Yijiahua Import & Export Co., Ltd. In terms of export amount they
were the top ten exporters of PTFE in 2005. Their export amount
accounted respectively for 36.33%, 19.40%, 8.49%, 5.55%, 4.05%,
2.83%, 2.14%, 2.02%, 1.10% and 1.05% of