The tetrahydrophthalic anhydride industry has good development prospects, but domestic high-end products still rely on imports

Tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, whose full name is 1,2,5,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, is a maleic anhydride derivative with the molecular formula C8H8O3. Tetrahydrophthalic anhydride is an important intermediate for new organic acid anhydride epoxy resin curing agents, synthetic surfactants, and pharmaceutical pesticides. It is widely used in medicine, coatings, plasticizers, electronic appliances, aerospace, electronic components, semiconductor devices and other fields. Widely used, the main production methods include solvent method and melting method.

Tetrahydrophthalic anhydride is the most widely used in the fields of coatings and PCB ink materials. Currently, under the background of the rapid development of the domestic PCB industry, the scale of the PCB ink market continues to expand. In 2021, the domestic PCB ink market will be approximately US$1.12 billion. In recent years, under the background of rapid development in application fields, the domestic market demand for tetrahydrophenic anhydride has continued to increase. According to the“China Tetrahydrophenic Anhydride 2022-2026” released by the Industrial Research Center (THPA) Industry Market Demand and Investment Planning Analysis Report shows that the domestic market demand for tetrahydrophthalic anhydride in 2021 will be 48,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 41.1%.

From the perspective of import and export status, according to data from the General Administration of Customs, China’s import volume of tetrahydrophenic anhydride from January to October 2021 was 3120.4 tons, with an import value of US$6.063 million; export volume was 2841.3 tons, with an export value of US$8.545 million. Taiwan, South Korea, and Italy are my country’s main importers of tetrahydrophenic anhydride; the United States, the Netherlands, and India are the main exporters.

At present, domestic tetrahydrophenic anhydride production capacity is mainly concentrated in the central, eastern and eastern coastal areas. The main enterprises include Henan Yuanbo New Materials, Puyang Huicheng Electronics, Zhejiang Alpha Chemical, Jiaxing Qingyang Chemical, etc. At this stage, domestic tetrahydrophenic anhydride products have poor quality stability and weak brand competitiveness. Domestic production capacity is mainly concentrated in the low-end market, and high-end products still rely on imports. Therefore, in recent years, the domestic tetrahydrophenic anhydride import market has continued to expand.

Puyang Huicheng Electronic Materials is currently the leading company in my country’s tetrahydrophthalic anhydride industry. According to its corporate annual report data, the company’s operating income for the year in 2021 was 1.393 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.61%, including maleic anhydride including tetrahydrophthalic anhydride. Derivatives revenue accounted for 72.65%. At present, the domestic tetrahydrophthalic anhydride industry is in a stage of rapid development. In the future, the industry will continue to play a leading role as a leading enterprise and accelerate the process of domestic substitution in the domestic high-end market.

Industrial Analyst personnel said that in recent years, under the background of the rapid development of the domestic PCB industry, tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, as an important raw material for PCB ink, Its market demand is increasing and the industry development prospects are good. However, domestic tetrahydrophenic anhydride is currently mainly concentrated in the low-end market, and high-end products still rely on imports. In the future, local enterprises will need to continue to improve relevant technical levels, promote continuous optimization of product quality, and continuous improvement of brand competitiveness, thereby promoting the continuous increase of domestic high-end tetrahydrophenic anhydride production capacity and the continuous improvement of localization levels in the high-end market.