Industry Take-off: From Following To Leading

"The Chinese masterbatch industry has experienced a development process from small to large, from weak to strong, and is currently showing a booming trend. However, the imperfection of relevant testing institutions and standard systems has become a bottleneck restricting the development of the industry." Qiao Hui, Secretary General of the Masterbatch Professional Committee of the China Dyestuff Industry Association, said in an interview with the media recently.

Market Overlord: The Rise Of Asia's Largest Producer And Seller

Qiao Hui introduced that masterbatch coloring technology is the leader among the four types of plastic coloring methods, accounting for 48%. At present, my country has become the largest masterbatch producer and consumer in Asia, and is also the world's largest demand market in the future. In recent years, the rapid development of my country's plastics industry has strongly driven the development of the domestic masterbatch industry. From 2000 to 2005, my country's demand for masterbatches maintained an average annual growth rate of more than 20%. It is estimated that my country's demand for masterbatches will reach 300,000 tons in 2006. The current annual production capacity is close to 300,000 tons, which can basically meet the domestic market demand.

Testing Dilemma: Products Are Difficult To Obtain "International Passports"

However, under the situation of strong market demand and supply, the imperfect masterbatch testing and standard system has become increasingly prominent in restricting the future development of the industry. Qiao Hui said that the most headache encountered by enterprises in the past one or two years is that there is no way to send products for inspection. Masterbatch is an intermediate product between resin and products. Not only are there few product standards, but general national plastic products and resin testing institutions do not have the means to test masterbatch products. However, units that can do such professional testing do not have the testing qualifications required by users. It will take at least three to five years to obtain the corresponding qualifications. Therefore, although all indicators of the products can meet the technical requirements, they are unable to obtain a valid "passport" and cannot smoothly enter the international market. This is seriously restricting the healthy development of my country's masterbatch industry.

Standard Lag: An Industry Shortcoming That Has Not Been Updated For 30 Years

Qiao Hui said that the establishment of product standards is another major task that China's masterbatch industry needs to complete. At present, the Chinese masterbatch industry only has one QB1648-92 "Polyethylene Color Masterbatch" issued in 1992, which is far from meeting the current development needs of the industry.

Breakthrough Action: Accelerate The Construction Of A New Standard System

The Masterbatch Committee is actively working to promote the introduction of more masterbatch industry standards. It is understood that the two standards "PP Fiber Masterbatch" and "ABS Masterbatch" have been submitted for approval and are awaiting approval; "Low Molecular Weight Polyethylene Wax for Masterbatch" has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission for drafting.