Currently, my country is the world’s largest producer and consumer of caprolactam, the raw material for polyamide. It is also the country with the fastest growing polyamide production capacity and the fastest development of downstream applications in the world.
Polyamide 6 industry chain structure diagram
Caprolactam production link
The production technology level of caprolactam and the advanced degree of production process equipment determine the production efficiency, product purity and quality stability of caprolactam, which has a great impact on the subsequent processing and application of polyamide 6. Influence. In the past, the core technology of caprolactam production has been monopolized by foreign chemical giants for a long time, and raw material bottlenecks have restricted the development of my country’s polyamide 6 industry. Today, the design and production technology maturity of caprolactam equipment in mainland my country continues to improve, the raw material bottleneck has been broken through, and the production capacity has increased from 585,000 t/a in 2011 to 4.09 million t/a in 2019, accounting for 2019 global caprolactam 52.49% of total production capacity. At the same time, the global demand for caprolactam in 2019 was 6.4 million tons, and my country’s caprolactam consumption accounted for approximately 49.50% of the world’s total.
The production capacity of key caprolactam enterprises in my country in 2019 is 10,000 tons/a
Data source: Wang Wei, Wang Hui, Chen Zhuo. Current situation and development trends of caprolactam market at home and abroad[J]. Synthetic Fiber Industry, 2020, 43(4): 59-62.
Although my country’s self-sufficiency rate for caprolactam has increased significantly, high-quality raw materials still need to be imported.
The production and processing links of polyamide 6
The production and processing links of polyamide 6 mainly refer to polyamide 6. The production and post-processing of amide 6 slices are the core link of the polyamide 6 industrial chain. Polyamide 6 chips are mainly divided into three categories: spinning grade chips, film grade chips, and engineering plastic grade chips, which are used for processing fibers, films, and engineering plastics respectively.
The production of polyamide 6 fiber in my country began in the 1950s. After rapid development in recent years, its production capacity and output currently rank first in the world. According to statistics, in 2019, my country’s polyamide 6 chip production capacity was 5.035 million t/a, with an output of 3.48 million t. Polyamide 6 civilian yarn production capacity was 3.95 million t/a, with an output of 2.82 million t. The capacity utilization rates of slicing and spinning were 69.12 respectively. % and 71.39%, there is a certain proportion of idle capacity. The ratio of polyamide 6 chips used to produce civilian silk is 81.03%. It can be seen that the application of polyamide 6 chips in my country is still mainly for civilian fibers.
Judging from the production capacity layout of polyamide 6 in my country, the three provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu have an obvious concentration trend, with a number of leading companies with large production capacity. Among the polyamide 6 slice production enterprises, in addition to most of them located in Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces, there are also a small number of enterprises in Shandong and Hunan; in the production of polyamide 6 civilian yarn, Fujian Yongrong Jinjiang (formerly Fujian Jinjiang Technology), Changle Hengshen, Guangdong Xinhui Meida, Fujian Kaibang and other key enterprises. Most of these enterprises are private enterprises, which shows that my country’s private capital has made a prominent contribution to the production capacity of the polyamide 6 industry.
The main manufacturers of polyamide 6 consumer yarn in China in 2019 and their production capacity of 10,000 tons/a
Data source: China Fiber Network
Application links of polyamide 6
The application of polyamide 6 mainly refers to the application of downstream polyamide 6 fiber, BOPA and polyamide 6 engineering plastics, etc. It is an important link in realizing value improvement in the polyamide 6 industry chain. Polyamide 6 fiber mainly includes polyamide 6 civilian yarn, industrial yarn, continuous bulked filament (BCF), etc. Among them, polyamide 6 civilian silk can be used to process various surface accessories such as lace, mesh fabrics, stockings, and swimwear fabrics in the knitting field; in terms of weaving, its advantages such as high wear resistance, light weight, and good comfort are favored by brands; Polyamide 6 short fiber can be blended with cotton, wool, viscose fiber, etc. to make winter woolen coats, trouser fabrics, etc. Polyamide 6 industrial yarn has the advantages of high breaking strength, good fatigue resistance, and good bonding with rubber. It can be used to manufacture tire cords, and can also be used to process fishing nets, cables, safety belts, parachutes, filters and other products. BCF of polyamide 6 is mainly used in the production of tufted, woven and stitched carpets, and a small amount is used in decorative fabrics. It is widely used in the United States, Europe and other places, and also has great market prospects in my country.
90% of BOPA films are used in food and medical flexible packaging, and the rest are used in industrial fields, such as films for sheet profile production, aircraft and ship vacuum bagging films, etc.; in addition It can be modified into BOPA composite film, which can be used as packaging materials for military machinery, military food, and aluminum-plastic film packaging products for lithium batteries.
Polyamide 6 engineering plastics can be used in various fields through filling, reinforcement, toughening, flame retardant modification and other processes. For example, by adding benzene rings to change the molecular structure or adding additives, high-temperature-resistant polyamide can be obtained, which is used in automobiles, aerospace, military industry, 3D printing and other fields; polyamide 6 reinforced with glass fiber can be used in special industries such as weapons, armor and body armor. . </p
