PVA: Calmness with Ripples      

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a water soluble polymer and is usually classified into varieties for fiber uses and varieties for non-fiber uses. It has extensive applications in the textile, food, pharmaceutical, construction, timber processing, papermaking, printing, agricultural and metallurgical sectors.
   By the end of 2009 China had 11 PVA producers, their total capacity reaching 681 000 t/a. Of the total the capacity using the calcium carbide/acetylene process accounts for 83.7%, the capacity using the petroleum ethylene process accounts for 6.75% and the capacity using the natural gas/acetylene process accounts for 9.55%.

China's major PVA producers in 2009
Company
Capacity, thousand t/a    Process
Anhui Wanwei Updated High-Tech Material    Industry Company Limited
    135     calcium carbide/acetylene
Shanxi Sanwei Group Co Ltd
    100     calcium carbide/acetylene
Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works
    65      natural gas/acetylene
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company
    46      petroleum ethylene
Hunan Xiangwei Co Ltd
    95      calcium carbide/acetylene
Fujian Textile and Chemical Fiber Group Co Ltd
    60      calcium carbide/acetylene
Jiangxi Chemical Fiber and Chemical Engineering Company Limited
    35      calcium carbide/acetylene
Guizhou Crystal Organic Chemical (Group) Co Ltd
    50      calcium carbide/acetylene
Yunnan Yunwei Group Co Ltd
    30      calcium carbide/acetylene
Lanzhou New West Vinylon Co Ltd
    55      calcium carbide/acetylene
Shijiazhuang Chemical Fiber Co Ltd
    10      calcium carbide/acetylene
Total    681    
Source: CNCIC


   Several new PVA units will be completed and put on stream in China in the next few years. For example, Sinopec's Sichuan Vinylon Works will construct a 100 000 t/a unit to match its vinyl acetate unit. It is expected that China's total capacity of PVA will exceed 1.1 million t/a in 2014.

New PVA construction plans in 2010-2014
Company          Capacity, thousand t/a           Startup date
Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works             100     2011
Changchun Chemical (Jiangsu) Co Ltd     40      2011
Shandong Yangxin Lvhuan Degradable Plastics Co Ltd    20    before 2014
Yibin Tianyuan Group Co Ltd             120     before 2014
Anhui Wanwei Updated High-Tech Material Industry Company Limited
    100     2011
Inner Mongolia Mengwei Technology Co Ltd    100     2011
China Zenith Chemical Group Limited         140     phase one in 2011
Source: CNCIC


   China's PVA output has changed slightly in recent years. It was 484 600 tons in 2005 and 499 900 tons in 2007. Guangxi Vinylon Group Company Limited had shut down due to a big explosion on August 26th, 2008 and was acquired by Anhui Wanwei Updated High-Tech Material Industry Company Limited. Sinopec Beijing Dongfang Petrochemical Co Ltd has permanently stopped the production of PVA. China produced only 479 100 tons in 2009, merely an increase of 0.5% over the previous year.
   China's demand for PVA has increased constantly in recent years. The country's apparent consumption of PVA was 461 700 tons in 2004. It reached 511 500 tons in 2007, an increase of around 2.9% over the previous year. With impacts of the financial crisis the demand fell off in 2008. The consumption slightly picked up to 478 900 tons in 2009 with a well balance between local supply and demand. China's PVA production can basically meet its demand in quantity, but compared with the global advanced level, PVA produced by Chinese companies has unitary varieties. They are mostly common products with ordinary viscosity and alcoholysis degree and are mainly used in construction adhesives and low-grade textile sizing agents. Chinese companies are able to make few products with high polymerization degree or low polymerization degree or low alcoholysis degree by their own intellectual property rights. The domestic demand for such products is mainly satisfied by imports.

China's supply and consumption of PVA   (thousand tons)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Consumption
2004    456.0     32.8     27.1     461.7
2005    484.6     34.5     37.5     481.6
2006    498.6     40.0     41.5     497.1
2007    499.9     41.6     30.0     511.5
2008    476.8     23.8     42.1     458.5
2009    479.2     29.3     29.6     478.9
Source: CNCIC


   In terms of consumption mix, PVA in China was mainly used to produce vinylon fiber in the past, exceeding 100 000 tons a year. With the constant expansion of non-fiber uses in recent years, China's annual output of vinylon fiber has dropped from around 100 000 tons to around 20 000 tons while the consumption proportion of PVA in non-fiber uses has increased to 90%. The consumption mix of PVA has therefore been thoroughly changed.
   Textiles, coatings and adhesives are the most important consumers of PVA in China, their combined consumption accounts for 60%-70% of the country's total. According to reported projection, the demand for coatings worldwide will increase at an average annual rate of 3.2% in the next few years. The average annual growth in Asia and other emerging markets will be 5.5%. China's demand for coatings will increase at an average annual rate of 12%. The construction of great quantities of infrastructure in China has provided a development opportunity to adhesives makers. The improvement of the textile sector has created new growing points for the sizing agents. The stable development of the electronics, papermaking, pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors has further promoted the demand increase of PVA.
   With the sound development of China's economy, both its domestic demand and export of textiles with high count and high density have grown. The development of its high-grade paper sector and oil recovery sector has been accelerated. There has been a booming development