key investment points:
1. National mandatory standards such as the code for the allocation of personal protective equipment will be officially implemented from January 1, 2022, which will greatly improve the penetration rate of meta aramid in protective equipment;
2. 5g construction will be accelerated, and the demand for para aramid fiber will increase significantly;
3. Aramid paper has a large market space in the insulation system of new energy vehicle motors;
4. High prosperity has attracted new players, and expansion of production has become the main theme of aramid industry next year;
As China’s economic transformation and manufacturing upgrading enter a critical period, the new chemical material industry is facing a new historical opportunity. Among them, aramid fiber has attracted close attention of investors because of its high technical barriers and wide application fields.
Industry insiders believe that with the standard landing of personal protective equipment and the growth of demand in emerging fields such as 5g communication and new energy vehicles, it is expected that the aramid market demand will continue to improve, and the industry is expected to continue its high boom in 2022. At the same time, several listed companies announced plans to expand production, which became the keynote of the aramid industry in 2022.
downstream demand continues to increase
Aramid fiber is named after aromatic ring or derivatives of aromatic ring connected with amide group in its molecular structure. It has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, fatigue resistance, cutting resistance, corrosion resistance and light weight. At present, there are two main types of aramid fibers that have been commercially produced and applied in China, namely meta aramid fiber (PMIA) and para aramid fiber (PPTA). Among them, para aramid fiber production technology is more difficult and product performance is better.
Because of its excellent performance, aramid fiber is widely used in national defense, military industry, aerospace, personal protection, information communication and other fields. Among them, the field of personal protection is one of the most important applications of meta aramid, and it is also the main growth point of the demand for meta aramid.
It is reported that the national mandatory standards such as the code for the allocation of personal protective equipment will be officially implemented from January 1, 2022, and the new standards put forward higher requirements for the flame retardant and physical and chemical properties of fabrics.
At present, China has about 250 million industrial workers, and the annual demand for various types of protective clothing is about 180 million sets. The research of relevant institutions shows that after the implementation of the new standard, the penetration rate of aramid fabrics in protective equipment will be greatly improved, and it is expected to generate an incremental demand of more than 3300 tons of aramid every year.
In the aspect of para aramid fiber, due to its excellent properties such as high modulus, para aramid fiber can be used as a tension component in optical cable and is an excellent optical fiber reinforcement material. As the world’s largest optical fiber producer, para aramid fiber used as optical fiber reinforcement accounts for more than 40% of its total consumption. Analysts pointed out that with the acceleration of 5g construction in China, the demand for para aramid fiber for optical fiber reinforcement is expected to increase significantly.
In addition, the application of aramid products in the field of new energy can not be ignored. In the insulation system of new energy vehicle motor, aramid paper has a large market space. According to the prediction of people in the industry, the demand of aramid paper in the field of new energy vehicle motor will increase from 100 tons to 2000 tons by 2025.
It is worth mentioning that with the development of hydrogen energy industry, the demand for fiber-reinforced high-pressure storage tanks is expected to grow rapidly, and aramid fiber, which has been used as reinforcing material in military industry for many years, also has a certain market potential in hydrogen high-pressure storage tanks. In response to investors’ questions recently, China’s leading aramid enterprise Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Co.Ltd(002254) (002254. SZ) said that the company has paid attention to the application technology of aramid in the field of hydrogen storage.
high profit continues to expand production into the theme of next year
Different from the rising demand, the production technology of aramid fiber is difficult, especially the high-end aramid products can not meet the rising market demand, and there is a huge demand gap for para aramid fiber, which is highly dependent on imports.
Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Co.Ltd(002254) is the largest aramid production enterprise in China and the world’s top, with a total aramid production capacity of 15500 tons, including 11000 tons of meta aramid and 4500 tons of para aramid. The popularity of aramid products made the company profitable. Financial data showed that the company achieved a revenue of 3.282 billion yuan and a net profit of 731 million yuan in the first three quarters of this year, with a year-on-year increase of 94.77% and 300.97% respectively. In the first half of this year, the company’s aramid products achieved a revenue of 767 million, a year-on-year increase of 82% and a gross profit margin of 42.02%.
The relevant person in charge of the company told the financial associated press that at present, the aramid market is still hot, the product supply is in short supply, and the company’s main aramid products have basically reached full production and sales, which is expected to continue next year.
Recently, the company raised another 3 billion yuan to invest in the construction of 12000 T / a protection para aramid project, high elongation and low modulus para aramid industrialization project, high-performance meta aramid efficient integration industrialization project for emergency rescue and functional meta aramid efficient integration industrialization project.
At the same time, the high prosperity of the industry has also attracted many new players, and production expansion has become the main theme of the industry next year.
Among them, Shenma Industry Co.Ltd(600810) (600810. SH) plans to set up Henan Shenma aramid Technology Development Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary in Pingdingshan nylon new material industrial cluster, Henan Province, to build a 2000 ton high-performance para aramid fiber project with a total investment of 686 million yuan and a construction period of 2.5 years.
Shenma Industry Co.Ltd(600810) said that based on the international advanced manufacturing process, the project adopts the self-developed batch polymerization and two-step spinning process, and obtains high-strength, high modulus, high elongation and other high-performance products through process adjustment on the basis of standard products.
In addition, the pesticide manufacturer Jiangsu Lanfeng Bio-Chemical Co.Ltd(002513) (002513. SZ) is also preparing to cross-border layout of aramid industry. The company has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Jiangsu Lanfeng new materials Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Chenguang Engineering Design Institute Co., Ltd. have signed the engineering design agreement for 10000 t / a aramid II project (phase I project).
However, analysts believe that aramid has high requirements for production technology. After the new project is put into operation, it will take some time for capacity climbing and process running in. It is expected that the new project will be difficult to provide new increment to the market within three years.
(Financial Associated Press)
