The phosphorous acid industry has overcapacity and high-quality products have greater development potential

Phosphorous acid is an important fine phosphorus chemical product. It is mainly used as a pesticide intermediate, a raw material for organophosphorus water treatment agents, a reducing agent, a nylon whitening agent, and as a raw material for phosphite. The typical preparation process of phosphorous acid is as follows Phosphorus trichloride is used as raw material, and phosphorous acid is prepared through hydrolysis reaction. Some companies will add an appropriate amount of hydrochloric acid when preparing high-purity phosphorous acid.

At present, phosphorous acid is mainly used in pesticides, fertilizers, water treatment, plastics industry and other fields. With the development of the phosphorus chemical industry, my country’s phosphorous acid industry has experienced an early stage of rapid market expansion and gradually entered a period of stable development. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture formulated the “Action Plan for Zero Growth in Fertilizer Usage by 2020” and the “Action Plan for Zero Growth in Pesticide Usage by 2020” to vigorously promote the reduction of chemical fertilizers to improve efficiency and the reduction of pesticides to control harm. As the main raw material for pesticides and chemical fertilizers, the phosphorous acid market has been impacted and has entered a low-speed development stage. The proportion of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has gradually decreased, and companies in the industry have turned to developing water treatment, plastics and other fields.

From 2018 to 2022, with the development of domestic pesticides, fertilizers, water treatment, plastics industry and other industries, the domestic demand for phosphorous acid will show an overall growth trend. According to the “China Phosphorous Acid Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Report 2023-2028” released by the Industrial Research Center, among which, in 2022 In 2017, China’s demand for phosphorous acid was 62,600 tons. In the first half of 2023, China’s demand for phosphorous acid was 32,100 tons. In the coming period, my country’s phosphorous acid market demand growth will generally remain at a low level.

Restricted by factors such as technology, capital, environmental protection, and market, my country’s phosphorous acid companies are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. Individual companies have limited production capacity and low market share. Moreover, domestic demand for phosphorous acid is limited, so competition in my country’s phosphorous acid industry is fierce. At present, the main representative enterprises of phosphorous acid in my country include Jiangyin Yaoyu Chemical Co., Ltd., Yichang Kaixiang Chemical Co., Ltd., Henan Qingshuiyuan Technology Co., Ltd., Rudong Huayun Chemical Co., Ltd., Rudong Zhenfeng Yiyang Chemical Co., Ltd., etc. .

​ ​ ​ However, my country’s phosphorous acid industry has overcapacity and low capacity utilization. In 2022, my country’s phosphorous acid production capacity will be 268,000 tons, with an output of 146,500 tons, and a capacity utilization rate of 54.66%. Overcapacity has led to intensified market competition in the phosphorous acid industry, squeezing corporate profit margins, and making the industry less attractive to investment. It is not conducive to the long-term development of the phosphorous acid industry.

From the perspective of subdivided products, according to different purity, phosphorous acid can be divided into superior products, first-class products and qualified products. Among them, the purity of superior products is ≥99.0%, the purity of first-class products is ≥98.0%, and the purity of qualified products is ≥95.0%. Among them, high-quality products are mainly used in fields such as medicine and water treatment. In the fields of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which have relatively low purity requirements, first-class products and qualified products with lower prices are mainly used. In the future, with the development, transformation and upgrading of the downstream industry, its purity requirements for phosphorous acid will increase, and high-purity phosphorous acid products will be more in line with market trends. Therefore, superior products and first-class products have more development potential and potential than qualified products. investment space.