Analysis of the international market competition of China's polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) industry in 2022

Core data of this paper: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) production capacity and its proportion in the world, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) export volume, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) import and export unit price

Domestic enterprises account for more than 50% of global production capacity

In the 21st century, thanks to the domestic complete industrial chain layout, sufficient policy support, relatively cheap and high-quality labor force and other factors, the global PVA capacity has gradually concentrated in the Chinese market, and the domestic PVA industry has developed rapidly. In addition, with the increasing competition in the traditional PVA product market, the international PVA giants have gradually extended to the downstream high-value-added areas, and some enterprises have gradually withdrawn from the traditional PVA market, while Chinese enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in the global PVA market. In 2021, the domestic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) capacity (nominal capacity) will account for more than 50% of the global total capacity.

Domestic PVA exports account for more than 20% of the total output

In recent years, expanding export is an important way to alleviate China's PVA overcapacity. Before the COVID-19 in 2020, the export volume of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in China had an obvious growth trend. Affected by the global economic downturn and weak market demand in 2020-2021, the export volume of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in China has declined, but there are signs of recovery in 2021.

From the perspective of the proportion of domestic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) exports to the total output, its trend of change is consistent with the overall export volume. In 2021, the export volume will account for more than 20% of the output. On the whole, domestic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) industry enterprises are accelerating the export market layout and actively participating in global market competition.

From the perspective of export regions, in 2021, there will be more than 100 countries or regions exporting polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) products from Chinese Mainland, of which India will have the largest export amount, accounting for more than 10%; The second is South Korea, Malaysia, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc. Among the top ten countries or regions in terms of export value, Asian and European countries are the main ones. On the whole, China's polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) industry enterprises have more export layout to Asia and Europe.

Domestic PVA enterprises mainly compete in the low-end market

From the level of competition in the global polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) market, the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) products of most domestic enterprises are ordinary PVA products with medium degree of polymerization and high degree of alcoholysis, mainly in the middle and low end market competition, while the high-end PVA market with high degree of polymerization and low degree of alcoholysis is mainly occupied by large multinational enterprises such as Japan Corelli Corporation, Japan Hydroponics, Japan Unigico and DuPont, There is still a certain gap in the technical level of products at home and abroad.

Further comparing the import and export prices of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), in recent years, the import unit price of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in China is about 1.5-1.8 times that of export. The main reason for the large price gap is that the imported products are mainly high-end, differentiated and special brand PVA products; The export products are mainly low-end products, and the low-end market competition is more obvious.

In addition, it is worth noting that the average export unit price of China's polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) industry showed a trend of fluctuating growth in 2017-2021, and the average import unit price of the industry increased to 15200 yuan/ton in 2021, which also reflects that the quality of domestic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) export products has improved, the domestic industrial structure adjustment has been effective, and the competition in the international market is gradually transforming from low-price strategy competition to high-end market competition.