SAP Market Prospects Are Optimistic in China   

By Xu Bing, PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company

SAP (super absorbent polymer) is a type of hydrophilic polymer. It can absorb water by hundreds of times of its own weight. It also absorbs water very fast and features good water retention, large swelling force, big gelating force and good thickening ability. SAP has a macromolecular cross-linked structure. Once water is absorbed by SAP, it can be hardly taken out from the latter even by pressure. And SAP is flexible. Because of its unique properties, SAP has been very widely used in hygienic field, and its market demand is still increasing year by year.

Global capacity

Currently, Japanese firms are leading the world's SAP production. Nippon Shokubai, San-Dia Polymers and Sumitomo Chemical have a SAP production capacity of 470 000 t/a, 190 000 t/a and 191 000 t/a, respectively. Their combined SAP output accounts for about 60% of the global total. Nippon Shokubai's SAP production bases are distributed in Japan, the United States, Europe and China. San-Dia Polymers is also expanding its SAP production capacity in Japan and China. The capacity of its SAP plant in Nantong, Jiangsu province has been expanded to 60 000 t/a. In March 2008, Sumitomo Chemical acquired Arkema's 15 000 t/a SAP unit to enter the European market, and expanded the capacity of the Arkema unit to 20 000 t/a in 2009. In addition, the company also has a SAP capacity of 109 000 t/a in Japan and 62 000 t/a in Singapore. BASF announced that it will add a new SAP capacity of 70 000 t/a by 2012 and will expand the capacity of its SAP plants in Freeport, Texas and Antwerp, Belgium. BASF also plans to partner with Sinopec to build a new 160 000 t/a acrylic acid unit and an auxiliary SAP unit in China. Nippon Shokubai plans to construct a 60 000 t/a SAP plant in the United States in 2012 and a 30 000 t/a SAP plant in Australia in 2013. LG Chemical announced to expand its SAP and acrylate capacity in Yeosu, Korea. This expansion project will be completed in June 2012. By 2015, the global SAP capacity will reach more than 2.5 million t/a.

Fast growth in demand

As a polymer material with special functions, SAP production has had an over 30-year history. Because it can absorb water by many times of its weight, it has been widely used in many areas. In recent years, with the growing demand for disposable diapers and hygienic products, SAP has become the raw material of everyday essential products. The increase of the aging population drives the market demand for SAP. Europe, the United States and Japan are mature SAP markets and play a supporting role in the global SAP market. China, Southeast Asia and South America are the emerging SAP markets. Therefore, the demand for SAP will remain growing fast worldwide.
   With superior water absorption and retention capabilities, SAP has been widely used in the manufacture of disposable diapers and hygienic products. The growing demand for SAP in ultra-thin hygienic and adult incontinence products has stimulated the rapid development of SAP. The growth of the demand for adult diapers is faster than baby diapers. In Japan, Western Europe, the United States and other developed countries and regions, with the accelerated aging of the population, the SAP demand in diapers and hygienic products has grown about 5% annually on average in recent years. The demand for SAP in India, Brazil and other emerging countries is also growing fast. These countries will continue to drive the growth of the world demand for SAP. In 2010, the world's apparent consumption of SAP reached 1.869 million tons. It will reach about 2.45 million tons in 2015. During 2010 - 2015, its annual growth rate will reach 5.6%.
   Currently, disposable diapers and hygienic products have become the main drivers of the SAP market. In developed countries, 91.5% of SAP is used for the production of hygienic products (77.5% for baby diapers, 10% for adult incontinence pads, 4% for women's sanitary napkins), and 8.5% is used for other areas (3.8% for agriculture, 1% for construction, and 3.7% for other areas). From its consumption structure, it can be seen that SAP is mainly used to produce baby diapers, adult incontinence products and women's sanitary napkins.

Production of SAP in China

Currently, there are nearly 20 SAP producers in China, with a total production capacity of about 230 000 t/a. In 2010, the output of SAP in the country was about 127 000 tons. However, due to its poor performances, SAP made by Chinese companies is mainly used in agriculture and forestry, and 90% of SAP used for the production of hygienic products in the country is made by foreign-funded companies.
   Because China has become one of the world's most promising SAP markets, foreign companies began to build SAP plants in China a few years ago. In 2005, Japanese companies built two large SAP plants in China, filling up the vacancy in the production of SAP for hygienic products in China. One of the two plants is the 30 000 t/a SAP unit that Nippon Shokubai established in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province. This is Nippon Shokubai's 4th SAP production base, following one in Japan and the other two in the United States and Belgium, respectively.
  
Table 1 Major SAP producers in China in 2010       (thousand t/a)
Producer    Capacity
Nippon Shokubai Chemical (Zhangjiagang) Co Ltd    30
San-Dia Polymers (Nantong) Co Ltd    60
Formosa Super Absorbent Polymer (Ningbo) Co Ltd    30
Yixing Danson Technology Co Ltd     40
Quanzhou BLD Science, Technology & Industry Co Ltd    20
Jinan Haoyue Absorbent Materials Co Ltd    12
Zhongshan Ruidi New Materials Co Ltd    10
Tangshan Boya Resin Co Ltd       3
Hebei Haiming Ecological Sci-Tech Co Ltd    6
Zhejiang Weilong Polymer Co Ltd     6
Changzhou Xinya Environmental Friendly Materials Co Ltd     3
Others    10
Total     230


   San-Dia Polymers (a joint venture of Sanyo Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical) built a  20 000 t/a SAP unit in Nantong, Jiangsu province. The capacity of this unit was expanded to 60 000 t/a in 2008 and will be expanded to 135 000 t/a in 2011. Formosa Super Absorbent Polymer (Ningbo) Co Ltd built a 30 000 t/a SAP unit in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in 2008. Now, the capacity of this unit is being expanded to 60 000 t/a. In 2009, BASF and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Company (YPC)signed an agreement that both sides would invest US$500 million to increase the capacity of their joint venture - BASF-YPC Co Ltd - in basic petrochemical products and to build new downstream production units, including a 60 000 t/SAP unit. Major SAP producers in China and their capacity are listed Table 1.


Consumption of SAP in China

In 2010, China's consumption of SAP was 182 700 tons, of which 92% was used for the production hygienic products, and 5% for agriculture, and 1% for cable coverings. The consumption structure of SAP in the hygienic products was: baby diapers accounted for 55%, women's sanitary napkins 40%, and adult incontinence products 5%. This shows that baby diapers and adult incontinence products still account for a relatively small proportion in the total consumption of SAP in China, and the potential of SAP applications in the two areas is great. China's SAP market is expected to grow 8.6% annually from 2010 - 2015. The consumption structure of SAP in China in 2006-2015 is shown in Table 2. &nbs