In recent years, the rapid development of China's auto industry has boosted the demand for fluoroelastomers. However, the expansion of fluorine rubber's new production capacity has a single source of technology, and it lacks input into high-performance special products, key common technologies, and applied research. The result will inevitably lead to vicious competition in product prices. At the seminar on the 2008 special rubber and thermoplastic elastomer market and application technology held in mid-July, related experts called for national government departments to guide enterprises to strengthen development strategy research and strengthen macro-control efforts to promote the rapid development and growth of the fluorine rubber industry.
Fluororubber has excellent chemical properties and is mainly used as a variety of required media and high temperature resistant materials such as seals, hoses, tapes, and fuel tanks. Because of its irreplaceability, it is widely used in automobiles, petroleum, chemicals and Machinery and other industries. Among them, 60% to 70% of fluoroelastomers are used in the automotive industry.
China began to develop fluorine rubber in the 1950s. Before the 1990s, fluorine rubber was mainly used in the military industry. Since the late 1990s, the rapid development of China's auto and other high-tech industries has played a key leading role in the fluoroelastomer industry. In just a few years, the consumption of fluoroelastomers has increased several times. During the “10th Five-Year Plan†period, the annual production capacity of fluoroelastomers increased from 300 tons to about 3,000 tons, and in 2007 it reached more than 3,700 tons. It is expected that by 2010, the production capacity of fluoroelastomers will reach around 10,000 tons.
China's fluoro rubber is facing a good opportunity for development. From a market perspective, China has become the second largest automobile producer and consumer after the United States. The technological progress of the automobile industry and the improvement of environmental protection requirements have provided a great space for the development of the fluorine rubber industry. At the same time, the demand for fluorine rubber in the development of aerospace, petroleum, chemical, and mechanical industries is also increasing. In addition, with the continuous expansion of fluorine rubber production capacity, product prices are gradually declining, which has played a catalytic role in the application of fluorine rubber. It is estimated that by 2010, the total domestic demand for fluororubber will reach 10,000 tons.
From the technical point of view, industrial production bottlenecks and environmental protection bottlenecks have made breakthroughs, which is one of the main reasons for fluorocarbon products to go abroad. In addition, the rapid application of application technology is the fundamental driving force for the development of fluoroelastomers.
While China's fluororubber faces development opportunities, it also faces severe challenges. First, compared with foreign countries, there are still large gaps in product variety and application technology. There are more than 50 varieties of fluororubber abroad, but there are currently only 10 varieties in China. Second, the evaluation system for fluororubbers needs to be improved. At present, the fluororubber standard is still an enterprise standard, and no industry or national standards have been formed. Third, the gap between test methods and foreign countries is still relatively large. Fourth, due to the limitations of processing technology, the barriers to application have not been able to effectively break through. At present, domestic fluoroelastomers are mainly used for various kinds of sealing miscellaneous parts, and the market for crankshaft oil seals, fuel pipes and other products with high technical, quality, and production efficiency requirements are controlled by foreign giants, and the auto industry’s recall system has resulted in The huge technology and cost risk make the original parts market use the domestic glue little directly. The fifth is the biggest challenge in the industry. There has been no significant increase in technology and quality, which has led to vicious competition in product prices.
At present, China's fluoroelastomer industry has emerged the phenomenon of excess consumption of general-purpose products and high-end products relying on imports. The actual annual production capacity of fluoroelastomers has exceeded market demand. In this regard, industry experts have warned that it is important to improve the technological level and product quality of existing production companies, and work hard on new product development and applied research, instead of simply expanding the scale of production, or playing a big price war on low-end product competition. . Experts also suggested that relevant government departments should strengthen strategic research, correctly guide enterprises and strengthen fluoroelastomer development strategy research, strengthen macro-control efforts, avoid unhealthy competition, and achieve overall scientific planning and reasonable layout. In addition, experts also hope that domestic fluorine rubber research and production units and application manufacturers to strengthen technical cooperation and applied research to promote the rapid development and growth of China's fluorine rubber industry.
Thankfully, China's fluoroelastomer industry has a full understanding of the status quo and is actively adopting countermeasures, such as increasing the development of specialty monomers and new products, accelerating the development of environmentally friendly fluoroelastomers, and strengthening applied technology research. The initial results have been achieved in the formation of ancillary supply systems.