China Blowing Agents Market Assessment 2017: Stable Growth in China's Blowing Agent Market in 2016
The study finds that the market has slowly recovered from past years of lackluster performance. In 2016, the China market for blowing agent is valued at RMB 6.3 Bn and around 400,000 tons of blowing agents are sold. The domestic market is expected to maintain stable growth rates through to 2021. Because of the Montreal Protocol, China will be reducing its HCFC production and consumption to 35% of baseline level in 2020. This will mean that many downstream users in the building materials market especially those making PU and XPS foams will have to switch to other blowing agents by then. This change is by no means a small one, as HCFC is still the second largest segment in 2016. With the phase out of HCFC, there will be more users switching to hydrocarbon (HC), HFC and HFO blowing agents. Through a comprehensive study of the market, this report will identify the possible opportunities available for existing and potential players looking to capitalize on this development.
Blowing agents are currently used in China for the production of many different end products. Going forward, we expect demand from downstream users to slowing recover as the Chinese economy shifts from an export led to a consumption driven model. This, coupled with a growing middle class and growing awareness of environmental issues, will drive the growth of products that are more environmentally friendly.
The report provides an in-depth analysis on the production, sales, distribution and applications of six distinct blowing agent product segments in the Chinese market. The report provides a detailed analysis on the ADC, HCFC, HFC, HC, OBSH and DPT product segments and its application in end markets like, building materials, footwear & apparel, home appliance, packaging, automotive, consumer goods, etc. We find that the market is currently dominated by domestic suppliers, who are mainly large scale low cost chemical producers. In some segments, domestic suppliers are sometimes cost competitive enough to compete head on with technically superior foreign rivals.
The study also reports on suppliers’ output as compared to capacity and reveals that companies in this industry still have some excess capacity, and most suppliers are not looking to expand production in the near term. Prices in some segments are expected to increase due to higher raw materials cost.