Chemical industry workers take note! What disruptive changes will the chemical new materials industr

As the core pillar of the modern industrial system, new chemical materials are experiencing a historic leap from "following" to "leading". According to the latest statistics from the International Materials Federation (IOM3), the global new chemical materials market has exceeded 1.8 trillion US dollars, of which China accounts for 36.4%, forming a competitive landscape on par with the United States.

New chemical materials are an important part of the new materials industry and a key area for the high-quality development of China's chemical industry. Since the mid-20th century, with its unique physical and chemical properties and wide range of applications, it has become a key force in promoting scientific and technological progress and industrial upgrading. From plastic products and synthetic fibers in daily life to high-end aerospace materials and biomedical materials, polymer materials are everywhere and have a profound impact on the production and lifestyle of human society.

New chemical materials include three types of materials:

First, high-end materials in the traditional chemical industry;

Second, high-end chemical products in new application areas;

The third is new chemical materials produced through secondary processing.

With the continuous development of the chemical industry, the scope of new chemical materials is constantly changing. At present, new chemical materials can be mainly divided into ten categories of products, including engineering plastics and special engineering plastics, polyurethane materials, high-performance rubber, high-end polyolefins, high-performance fibers, functional membrane materials, fluorosilicone materials, electronic chemicals, new energy materials and other materials.

In 2025, domestic new chemical materials will show strong growth momentum driven by policies and technologies. New energy materials and electronic chemicals have become industry hotspots, and the industry scale is growing rapidly. International geopolitical issues still exist, the economic situation is complex and changeable, and the changes in various fields of new chemical materials are different. Among them, the market performance in the fields of energy conservation and new energy, and new generation of information technology is outstanding.

In recent years, with the continuous growth of the global economy and technological progress, the new materials industry has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. In 2024, the scale of China's chemical new materials industry will reach 165.56 billion US dollars, accounting for 36.4% of the global industry scale, followed by the United States, with a scale of 145.50 billion US dollars, accounting for 32.0%. Overall, although China's chemical new materials industry is large in scale, its innovation and development capabilities are still insufficient. The United States, Europe and Japan are still in a leading position in the chemical new materials industry. The United States is in a leading position in functional membrane materials, high-performance fibers, engineering plastics and special engineering plastics, high-end polyolefin resins, high-performance rubber and other fields. Only a few products are blank, and the overall development level in fluorosilicone materials, polyurethane materials and other fields is relatively high; Europe's polyurethane material development level is the world's leading, and the development level of functional membrane materials, high-performance fibers, engineering plastics and special engineering plastics, fluorosilicone materials, etc. is relatively high; Japan's electronic chemicals are at the global leading level, and the level of high-performance fibers and functional membrane materials is relatively high.

China’s industrial breakthrough path needs to focus on the following three dimensions.

1. Technical breakthrough roadmap

• Key breakthroughs: high-performance carbon fiber precursor preparation technology, electronic special gas purification process, etc.

• Innovation model: Building a triangular innovation consortium of "universities-research institutes-enterprises"

2. Industrial cluster upgrading

• Yangtze River Delta: Building a world-class functional materials industry cluster

• Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao: Building an innovation corridor for electronic information materials

• Central region: Building a new energy materials industry base

3. Global layout

• Establish overseas R&D centers and build a new model of "two-way investment + technological cooperation"

• Participate in the formulation of international standards and compete for the right to speak in the industry

1. Challenges

(1) Increasingly stringent environmental regulations: With the enhancement of global environmental awareness and the popularization of the concept of sustainable development, governments around the world have introduced strict environmental regulations and policy measures, which have put forward higher requirements for the production and use of the polymer materials industry.

(2) High pressure of technological innovation: The polymer materials industry is a technology-intensive industry, and technological innovation is the key to promoting the development of the industry. However, with the continuous advancement of technology and the intensification of market competition, enterprises are facing increasing pressure of technological innovation.

(3) Fluctuation in raw material prices: The main raw materials for polymer materials are fossil fuels such as petroleum, and their price fluctuations directly affect production costs and market competitiveness. In recent years, the sharp fluctuations in international oil prices have brought uncertainties to the polymer materials industry.

2. Opportunities

(1) Rapid development of emerging markets: With the rapid economic growth and accelerated urbanization in emerging markets such as Asia and Africa, the market demand for polymer materials in these regions will continue to grow.

(2) Increased policy support: In order to promote the development and transformation and upgrading of the new materials industry, governments around the world have introduced a series of policy measures, including financial subsidies, tax incentives, and support for scientific and technological innovation, which have provided strong guarantees for the development of the polymer materials industry.

(3) Cross-border integration and innovation: With the continuous advancement of science and technology and the rapid development of interdisciplinary disciplines, cross-border integration and innovation between the polymer materials industry and other fields will become a new growth point. For example, the combination of polymer materials and biotechnology will promote the development of biomedical materials; the combination of polymer materials and nanotechnology will promote the application of nano-polymer materials, etc.

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