Chinese companies have not yet achieved industrialized production of nylon 11. The supply of raw materials is the key

Nylon 11, also known as polylactam 11 (PA11), is an engineering plastic with excellent properties that has the properties of nylon 66, nylon 6 and polyolefin. Nylon 11 is mainly used to manufacture various hoses, packaging films, cable sheaths, wear-resistant parts, military and aerospace materials, etc. It is widely used in automobiles, military industry, cables, machinery, medical equipment and other fields.

Since 2000, although some domestic scientific research institutions have continued to conduct technical research on nylon 11, due to limitations in technical level and other factors, no local enterprise has achieved industrial production so far, and the nylon 11 market is highly dependent on external parties.

According to the “2022-2026 China Nylon 11 Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report released by the Industrial Research Center, In recent years, due to factors such as technology patent blockade, the domestic nylon 11 industry has been monopolized by the French Arkema company. Based on the huge market demand for nylon 11 in China, Arkema has expanded its production scale. Its affiliated Chinese factory has an annual production capacity of nylon 11 of about 7,000 tons.

Judging from the production status of Arkema’s Chinese factory, French Arkema has established two nylon 11 production plants in Changshu and Zhangjiagang, China. In order to meet the growing market demand, it conducted inspections of the Changshu factory twice in 2013 and 2021. Capacity expansion. The raw materials needed for the factory to produce nylon 11 are imported from abroad. There are thousands of brands of nylon 11. However, Arkema’s Chinese factory only produces some low-end product brands, and most of the mid-to-high-end products are still produced abroad. Therefore, the price of nylon 11 produced by Arkema in China is generally lower than that of nylon 11 imported from abroad.

In the domestic market, the automotive field is the largest downstream application field of nylon 11. Nylon 11 can be used to make various automotive oil pipes, hoses, air pressure pipes, as well as circuit connectors, wipers and other parts. With the development of domestic new energy vehicles, nylon 11 is required for the fuel system and battery system of electric and hybrid models. At the same time, under the national policy of vigorously developing key raw materials such as nylon 11, nylon 12, nylon 1414 and other special polyamides, more research resources and funds will enter the field of nylon 11 to promote the development of nylon 11 and related industries. China Nylon 11 and its related industries have great potential for development.

Industry analysts said that the upstream of nylon 11 is mainly amino acid 11, and product prices fluctuate greatly. Due to the cost of raw materials, nylon 11 companies are producing occupies a larger proportion of the cost. In addition, there are very few domestic amino acid 11 manufacturers, and the products are highly dependent on external sources, posing the risk of unstable supply. Therefore, nylon 11 companies must establish a scientific raw material procurement system, raw material cost control must introduce the concept of capital, and establish a raw material procurement capital pool and raw material price warning lines to ensure the company’s raw material supply.