Foreign giant companies gradually withdraw from the market, leading local pearlescent material companies usher in new opportunities for development

Pearlescent material, also known as pearlescent effect material, refers to a material made by coating one or more layers of metal oxide on the surface of a base material such as natural mica or synthetic mica through a specific process. According to different ingredients, pearlescent materials can be divided into natural pearlescent materials and synthetic pearlescent materials; according to different uses, they can be divided into industrial-grade pearlescent materials, automotive-grade pearlescent materials and cosmetic-grade pearlescent materials. Among them, automotive grade and cosmetic grade pearlescent materials have higher added value and are high-end pearlescent material products.

The upstream of the pearlescent material industry chain is suppliers of base materials such as mica powder, natural silica, alumina, and artificial glass, as well as metal oxide coating materials such as Fe2O3, TiO2, and FeTiO3; the midstream includes suppliers of Merck, BASF, Kuncai Technology, and Europe Pearlescent material manufacturers such as Gram, Seven Color Pearlescent, Ruicai Technology, Zhejiang Ange, Jiangxi Tiancai, etc.; downstream are automotive, cosmetics, construction, coatings, plastics, pigments, inks and other application fields.

Pearlescent materials have the characteristics of high light refractive index, good chemical stability, good high temperature resistance, and good corrosion resistance. In recent years, its application fields have continued to expand and market demand has continued to increase. From the perspective of application fields, at this stage, coatings are the largest application market for pearlescent materials. In 2021, its market share will be approximately 27% of the total pearlescent materials; followed by the plastic field, accounting for 19%; and the ink field accounting for 14%. Ranking third; high value-added markets such as automobiles and cosmetics account for a total of 21%.

In 2021, the scale of my country’s coatings market has exceeded 470.0 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 16.3%. In recent years, driven by the rapid development of the coatings market, my country’s pearlescent material market has continued to expand. According to the “China Pearlescent Materials Market Analysis and Development Prospects Research Report 2022-2026” released by the Industrial Research Center, in 2021 domestic The market size of pearlescent materials is approximately 5.37 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%. In the future, as the domestic pearlescent material application field continues to develop, its market size is expected to maintain a sustained growth trend.

For a long time, the global pearlescent material market has been dominated by foreign giants such as Merck and BASF, while local company Kuncai Technology only accounts for less than 15% of the market share. However, in recent years, foreign giant companies have successively decided to sell their pearlescent materials business units. In August 2019, DIC reached an agreement to acquire BASF’s global pearlescent materials business. In June 2021, BASF completed the divestment of the global pearlescent materials business; Merck also intends to sell its pearlescent materials business unit and turn to the development of mRNA technology. In 2021, Merck will gradually separate its pearlescent materials department from the group.

Industry Analysts personnel said that the current global pearlescent material market pattern is facing major changes. Against this background, my country Kuncai Technology, Qise Pearlescent , Ouke New Materials and other leading companies will usher in huge development opportunities. In the future, as domestic companies continue to increase their technology research and development efforts and product innovation capabilities, leading local companies are expected to occupy more market shares in the global market and become global leading companies, with huge potential for industry development.