Masterbatch is a polymer compound coloring material made of resin as a carrier, added with a high proportion of pigments, dispersants and functional additives, through high-speed mixing, melting and mixing extrusion, cooling and cutting granules. With the advantages of good coloring effect, energy saving, environmental protection, easy storage and transportation, etc., it’s mainly used in chemical fiber products and plastic products, etc.
China’s masterbatch supply continues to improve
Masterbatch coloring has the advantages of good coloring effect, low coloring cost, ease to use, accurate measurement, energy-saving and environmental protection, etc. It can meet the coloring needs of downstream plastic product enterprises, reduce the production process of color matching and pigment addition in downstream enterprises, and greatly improve the quality of downstream products.
According to the statistics of the China Dyestuff Industry Association Masterbatch Professional Committee, the period from 2005 to 2008 was a period of rapid development for China’s masterbatch industry. It was during this period that the masterbatch industry doubled its output, from 250,000 tons to 500,000 tons per year; many manufacturers also expanded their business scale during this period. During this period, enterprises with an output of over 10,000 tons and an output value of over 100 million began to appear in China’s masterbatch industry, and the number increased year by year.
From 2008 to 2012, the industry was in a stable development period and there was a steady growth in output. since 2012, the good development of the plastics industry has brought great opportunities and space for the development of the masterbatch industry, and as far as the masterbatch industry itself is concerned, the total domestic output of masterbatch from 2017 to 2019 was 1.523 million tons, 1.648 million tons and 1.8 million tons respectively, maintaining constant growth. Combined with the operation of China’s masterbatch industry in 2020, it is estimated that in 2020, China’s masterbatch production was about 1.89 million tons.
China’s segmented masterbatch product price trend is stable
At present, the main products in China’s masterbatch industry include color masterbatches, white masterbatches, black masterbatches and functional masterbatches. The market price of different masterbatch products varies depending on their manufacturing process and cost.
According to Ningbo Color Masterbatch prospectus data, since 2017, the average price of functional masterbatches has always been higher than other categories, and in the first half of 2020, the average price of functional masterbatches was 26,100 yuan/ton; the sales price of color masterbatch products basically remained around 24,000 yuan/ton, and in the first half of 2020, the average market price of color masterbatches was 23,700 yuan/ton; while black masterbatches and white masterbatches basically remained. In the first half of 2020, the average price of white masterbatches and black masterbatches was 18,200 yuan/ton and 18,800 yuan/ton respectively.
The scale of the top Chinese manufacturers still needs to be improved
After years of development, there are thousands of Chinese masterbatch manufacturers, but on the whole, the overall scale of Chinese masterbatch enterprises is not large, and there is no leading masterbatch manufacturer that occupies an absolutely dominant position yet. Relatively speaking, major Chinese enterprises in the industry like Malion, Poly Plastic Masterbatch, Ningbo Mingzhou, and Hongmei Masterbatch occupy a relatively large market share of masterbatch products in China.