Aramid fiber technology has extremely high thresholds, high industry concentration, and core technologies are monopolized by giants. The production capacity is mainly concentrated in the United States, Japan, and Europe, and China is catching up. The main aramid producers are mainly concentrated in Europe, America, Japan and other regions. According to QYResearch data, the total global aramid output in 2016 was 115,200 tons, of which para-aramid accounted for about 68% and meta-aramid 32%. Among the major producing regions, Europe and the United States occupy 70% of the global market share, ranking first. DuPont of the United States and Teijin of Japan are the main aramid producers. The total aramid output of the two companies accounts for about 79.1% of the global production capacity. DuPont of the United States is the world's largest para-aramid production company. Its Kevlar fiber has become the iconic product of para-aramid. Its Nomex fiber also shines in meta-aramid. After the acquisition of AkzoNobel's para-aramid fiber business, Teijin Japan has become one of the main players of aramid fiber, including Technora, Twaron and Conex.
Aramid fiber has the industry characteristics of high technology threshold, high capital threshold and long R & D cycle. The production process also has high requirements for instruments and equipment, so the entire industry presents a highly concentrated competitive landscape. The main players of the global aramid are DuPont of the United States, Teijin of Japan and YTTH Aramid Technology Group of China. According to the statistics of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, in 2017, the global aramid production capacity was about 37,000 tons / year, and DuPont ranked first, accounting for 67.4%; YTTH Aramid Technology Group ranked second, accounting for about 19%; the third place is Japan's Teijin Company, accounting for about 7%. Compared with meta-aramid, the localization process of para-aramid fiber is relatively slow. China mainly relies on imports, and high-end products are subject to people's restraint. In 2017, the global para-aramid production capacity was about 80,000 tons per year, of which DuPont Company accounted for more than half of the market share. Japan's Teijin Company ranked second, accounting for about 38%. About 8%.
China's aramid research started in the 1970s. At present, most production companies are located in eastern coastal provinces. Meta-aramid successfully achieved industrial production in 2004. At present, YTTH Aramid Technology Group is the world's second largest meta-aramid manufacturing supplier after DuPont of the United States. Compared with meta-aramid, para-aramid has a late breakthrough in key technologies. In 2011, YTTH took the lead in issuing an announcement announcing the industrialized production of para-aramid, achieving a leap from laboratory to commercial production. At present, the main R & D and production manufacturers in China are: YTTH Aramid Technology Group, SZZD Special Fiber Technology, ZLCG and other enterprises.
With the breakthrough of key technologies in China's aramid materials, the aramid fiber industry (especially para-aramid) will usher in a period of rapid growth driven by capital. At present, China's meta-aramid production capacity ranks second in the world, and it has strong competitiveness in the international market. At the same time, there is a situation of overcapacity in certain low-end products. On the other hand, para-aramid, the domestic industrialization has begun to emerge, and the market has become increasingly vigorous. In 2018, the global para-aramid production capacity was 92,000 tons, the output was 82,000 tons, and the downstream consumption was 80,000 tons. The output of DuPont and Teijin of the United States accounted for about 70% of global para-aramid consumption. In 2018, the domestic consumption of para-aramid was 10,000 tons, which is mainly used in the field of optical cables (40% -50%) and the field of safety protective fabrics (30%). With the rapid development of applications in China's transportation, optical fiber communications, high-speed railways, aerospace, sports equipment, automotive parts and defense and security, the market demand growth rate of para-aramid is expected to remain at 5-10 years. 10% or more.
Despite the huge market potential, the current production status of para-aramid in China is not optimistic. The actual effective production capacity of the domestic para-aramid plant is only 11,000 tons, with an output of 3,800 tons, and only 30% is used for export. In the market demand for para-aramid in China, except for the domestic supply of 3,800 tons of products, the rest are all imported. The supply of DuPont and Teijin is 5,000 to 6000 tons. The production of domestic para-aramid is far less than the market demand and can be developed. The space is huge.
Different from cutting-edge new materials such as graphene, after half a century of development, aramid fibers have formed a complete industrial chain, and related products have mature applications in many fields such as national defense and fiber optic cables. Therefore, the world's aramid fiber industry is in a period of steady rise. Different from the current situation of foreign industries, the aramid fiber technology breakthrough in mainland China is relatively late, and it is currently in the initial industrial outbreak period. The prospect of China's aramid fiber industry is promising, because aramid fiber is a dual-use material for military and civilian use, and the material oligarchs in Europe, America, and Japan have long imposed blockades on China's technology, equipment and high-end products, making it imperative to have independent core technology. Therefore, the government and the industry Will continue to support domestic aramid fibers. However, due to factors such as high technological threshold and large amount of individual investment, the production capacity of domestic aramid fibers will be concentrated in about four leading enterprises in the future.
Investment in China's aramid industry is slow. Aramid production has the characteristics of "three highs": high investment in production line, investment of thousands of tons of para-aramid is about 200 million yuan, which is much higher than the investment of conventional synthetic fiber varieties; high production cost, aramid production cost is about 6 times as much as polyester and 5 times as much as nylon; the technical threshold is high, and only a few companies, such as Taihe New Materials, have achieved domestic breakthroughs in domestic para-aramid technology. Aramid's "three highs" and foreign technology blockade have become the main factors restricting aramid investment. Since 2017, aramid technology R & D manufacturers represented by YTTH Aramid Technology Group, YZHX Chemical Fiber, SZZD Special Fiber, JSRS New Material, ZLCG will gradually start the investment construction of aramid production lines.
Research in the global aramid fiber field focuses on the functionalization of aramid fibers and their downstream applications. Through the analysis of the global patent layout, we know that the number of Chinese patents has exploded since 2007, and has now replaced Japan, and is also known as the country with the world's most active aramid patent layout. However, quantity does not represent quality. At present, Japan and the United States are still the most technologically developed regions. High strength, high temperature resistance, and insulation are the current mainstream technology directions, while automobiles, textiles, and fiber optic cables are popular downstream application directions.