By Jiang Yanyan, China National Chemical Information Center
Polysulfone engineering plastics – which have properties like heat resistance, creep resistance, dimensional stability, shock resistance, chemical resistance, no toxicity and flame resistance – which can be categorized into PSU, PES and PPSU according to product structures – are widely used in the areas of electronics, electrical appliances, machineries, automobiles, medical treatment, food processing, aviation, etc. But domestic demand heavily relies on imports due to technical barrier. Global polysulfone market is dominated by several multinational companies. Hence slow progress in domestic polysulfone technologies.
China had no polysulfone industrial production lines before 2015, but after that year many domestic firms entered the polysulfone market, making the nation’s polysulfone capacity soar (see Table 1 for details). However, immature technologies led to unstable quality and low operating rates. At present, domestic polysulfone products are mainly used in low-end areas such as household electronic accessories. Most demand from high-end markets (e.g. medical treatment, automobiles and water treatment) is satisfied by imports. The polysulfone will be one of special engineering plastics that China will prioritize developing from 2021 to 2025.
Restricted by product quality, China has been a net polysulfone importer for a long term, with dependence degree on imports reaching 100% before 2015. Import growth has decelerated since 2016, when domestic polysulfone producers started launching own products. Domestic polysulfone consumption was around 1 100 tons in 2020, with imports accounting for around 80%.
In China, polysulfone products are mainly consumed by medical treatment (33%), home appliances (28%), transportation (20%), electronics and water treatment industries. The medical treatment industry mainly needs PSU (mainly used in hematodialysis) and PES. China has improved both medical level and medical insurance in recent years, greatly reducing renal dialysis costs and spurring polysulfone consumption.
The home appliance industry mainly needs PPSU, which is used to produce accessories of microwave ovens, steam kettles, coffee makers, corn popper and baby bottles. The world’s largest home appliance producer, China exports a large quantity of home appliances each year. Further, domestic two-child policy propels consumption of infant-related products. These factors help polysulfone consumption grow continually in this area.
The transportation industry mainly needs PES and PPSU. Some core components of automobiles have high requirements on special engineering plastics. PES – superior in heat resistance and machinability – is used to produce automobile headlight reflectors, cooling water pipes, vehicle connectors, speed changer, etc.
Other major application areas include water treatment and electronics, both mainly consuming PSU. Stricter policies to protect environment promote demand for water treatment membranes, and scale of household water dispenser market is expanding. Hence, PSU membrane industry develops rapidly in China. Miniaturization of electronics and electric appliances puts forward higher requirements on electronic materials –another impetus for PSU demand growth. Figure 1 shows polysulfone consumption in 2020.
Figure 1 China’s polysulfone consumption structure in 2020
Domestic demand for various special engineering plastics will increase continually, given rapid growth of medical treatment, electronic information and environmental protection industries. China’s polysulfone market is forecast to grow 10% annually during 2021-2015, boosted by burgeoning downstream sectors, medical treatment and environmental protection in particular.
