Thin-Wall Injection Output Taking up a Larger Proportion
Preamble: In the recent five years, thin-wall PP injection molding output climbed rapidly, with an average growth rate of above 26.8%, far higher than the PP output average growth rate of 8.8%. In 2022, the proportion of thin-wall injection molding output in total PP output increased from 3.5% in 2018 to 6.4%, and it has gradually jumped from a small category of PP to an important structural product. The influence of thin-wall injection molding has expanded significantly.
In recent years, PP capacity has shown a continuous uptrend. As of July 31, China’s PP capacity reached 36,540kt/a, up 14,000kt/a from 2018, and this newly added capacity occupies nearly 40% of total PP capacity in China. The capacity growth resulted in a rapid increase in enterprise number and industry capacity.
After PP capacity expanded quickly, the product structural adjustment at PP producers sped up. According to SCI, thin-wall injection molding, TPP (transparent PP), high-MFR fiber and high-MFR copolymer witnessed rapid growth in output from 2018 to 2022. Therein, the average growth rate of thin-wall injection molding was 26.8%, far higher than the average growth rate of PP output, namely 9%.
In recent years, thin-walled injection molding has been favored by many PP producers due to its increasing capacity and favorable economic benefits. China’s domestic producers are still enthusiastic about the research & development and production scheduling of thin-walled injection plastics. According to the monitoring data of SCI, as of 2022, the capacity of thin-wall PP injection molding units reached 11,460kt/a, an increase of 2.2 times over 2018, and about 35 producers have produced thin-wall injection molding.
Thin-wall injection molding output also grew rapidly in recent years with the number of enterprises rising. The output grew from 730kt in 2018 to 1,920kt in 2022, with an average growth rate of 27%, far higher than the average growth rate of PP output, namely 8.8%. That suggested that thin-wall injection played a crucial role in PP product structural adjustment.
With the continuous development of takeaway ordering habits and the further popularization of the takeaway market, it is expected that the packaging demand for thin-wall injection molding in the field of takeaway will be relatively stable in the future. For the plastic reduction action in the takeaway field that market players are more concerned about, if the use of plastic lunch boxes is cut, there may be problems such as the high cost of degradable lunch boxes and shortage of raw materials. Especially for the catering industry that has been hit a lot in the past three years, it is more serious economic pressure. Therefore, it is expected that it will take time to replace plastic raw materials with degradable materials. Takeaway packaging will still be an important driving factor for the growth of thin-wall injection molding materials consumption. In the short term, the demand for thin-wall injection molding in the takeaway field may still be stable-to-rising. Driven by this, it is expected that the supply of thin-walled injection molding is still expected to grow steadily and continue to play an important structural role in the PP industry.
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