PVDC Has Broad Market Prospects


By Liu Lingmei

Polyvinylidene chloride resin (PVDC) is a copolymer with
vinylidene chloride monomer as major component, broadly applied
in fields such as food and medicine. Developing PVDC products
can help to balance the excess chlorine made in the chlor-alkali
industry, and help manufacturers improve performance and
competitive edge.
    PVDC products include emulsion and resin types. PVDC
emulsion can be directly coated on the surface of substrate
material. Because PVDC emulsion is water soluble, it is easy to
use, safe and reliable. Therefore it is broadly applied in
packaging by the tobacco, food and medicine industries.

Demand for PDVC in packaging sector will increase rapidly

PVDC products are classified into: 1) PVDC resin for extrusion,
mainly Handi wrap, composite films, food bags, multi-layer
co-extruded films, casing films, etc; 2)Solution type PVDC resin
for coatings, mainly used for special coatings, adhesives,
container spraying coatings; 3)Fiber PVDC resin, used in fishing
net silk, flame-resistant fabrics, artificial lawns, etc;
4)PVDC emulsion, mainly used in composite membranes, films
coated in both surfaces, hard plate-like composite films, foil
composite films, etc.
    As a packaging material, PVDC possesses an outstanding
sealing property. Packing food with PVDC can extend the food's
quality guarantee period and, at the same time, provides good
protection of the food's color, smell and taste.
    In advanced countries, PVDC is widely applied in fields
including foodstuffs, the chemical industry, cosmetics,
medicines, hardware and machinery, etc. It is touted as a "green"
packaging material. The use of PVDC is linked to the national
standard of living. Presently annual consumption of PVDC in
America is around 50 thousand tons; in Europe, 45 thousand tons;
and the total for Asia and Australia together is around 40
thousand tons. The average annual increase in the rate of
consumption of PVDC is approximately 10% in Europe, America and
Japan. In Japan and Korea, PVDC packaging material is heavily
used in packaging of foodstuffs, medicines, chemical products
and electronic products, within which Handi wrap alone consumes
over 10 thousand tons each year.
    In China, PVDC shrinkage film started to enter the market
recently. Coating PVDC on paper is also a new business. The
current major application field of PVDC is casing film only, with
annual consumption in the range of 15 thousand to 20 thousand
tons. Along with the improvement of people's living quality and
the enhancement of consciousness of safety and environmental
protection in the minds of both consumers and manufacturers, the
demand for PVDC flexible packaging materials in China will
increase rapidly in the next 10 years.

  Dependency on imports is still rather high

Major local suppliers of PVDC raw material are Zhejiang Juhua
Group Corporation and Zhejiang Dongyang Yefeng Plastic Company
Ltd. PVDC emulsion products made by these two manufacturers have
already entered the international market. Many domestic
companies have sped up investment in constructing PVDC
downstream production lines. Many companies in Jiangsu,
Zhejiang and Shandong provinces have purchased production lines
for making PVDC film or for coating films.
    Presently, China's total capacity of PVDC emulsion coating
units has already reached 7 thousand t/a, and the output is
mainly used in cigarette packaging film (taking over 70% of the
total), foodstuffs and medicines packaging film. China's
production technology for PVDC latex is already well and
completely developed, and the PVDC latex made in China has strong
competitive edge. The production technology PVDC resin in China
is, however, to be further improved. Along with the rapid
development of China's economy, the demand for PVDC products
will increase rapidly. China imported only 1.12 thousand tons
of PVDC products in 1995, and by 2005 the imported amount reached
25 thousand tons, over 90% of which was PVDC resin.