Europe’s energy shortage has impacted its chemical industry. China’s carbomer resin industry faces new development opportunities

Carbomer resin is a polymer formed by chemical cross-linking of acrylic acid or acrylate and allyl ether, including polyacrylic acid (homopolymer) and long-chain alkanol acrylate polymers (copolymer). Its molecular structure contains about 60% acid groups, so it has a certain acidity and hydrophilic properties, and can be dissolved in water, ethanol and glycerin. The processing technology of carbomer resin is relatively simple, and it has good functions of thickening, stabilizing the system, suspending and releasing active substances, so it is widely used in personal care (toothpaste, shampoo, hand sanitizer, etc.) and cosmetics (lotion, etc.) , medicine (eye drops, etc.) and other fields.

Carbomer resin is a technology-intensive industry. Its core formula, process technology, raw material and additive supply, etc. are controlled by a few companies around the world and are strictly protected by them. This poses a high technical threshold for new entrants. Therefore, Carbopol resin is monopolized by a few chemical giants in the world. The main manufacturers include Lubricant in the United States, Newman Chemical and Tianci Materials in China, Eson of France, Evonik of Germany, etc. According to the release of “2022-2026 China Carbomer Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Trend Forecast Research Report” shows that Lubric has the largest production scale, with an output of about 40,000 tons , with global output exceeding 60,000 tons, it occupies a dominant position in the global carbomer resin market. Tianci Materials has a production capacity of 5,000 tons, but nearly half of its output is exported. The production scale of other companies is relatively small, and its impact on the industry is relatively limited.

Daily chemical products represented by cosmetics and personal care are the main consumer markets for carbomer resin. Since 2020, due to the need to respond to the new crown epidemic, the demand and production of hand sanitizer have increased sharply, thus promoting the carbomer resin market The sudden increase in demand, coupled with global inflation and the large-scale and substantial increase in chemical raw materials, has caused the price of carbomer resin to rise accordingly, stimulating the increase in carbomer resin production. International carbomer resin chemical giants such as Lubricant have benefited. The operating performance of carbomer resin companies represented by Tianci Materials has improved significantly, and the industry has entered a period of rapid development.

Analysts believe that recently, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has intensified, and Europe is facing an energy shortage, especially as winter approaches and Europe’s heating needs increase. In the context of growth, European chemical companies not only face the current situation and market expectations of high energy and chemical material prices, but may even face the risk of energy supply interruptions due to prioritizing civilian heating. Lubric, Essen and The Bocam production plants of chemical giants such as Evonik may suffer a major impact, which will affect global carbomer resin supply and market price fluctuations. This may bring new market expansion opportunities to China’s carbomer resin industry.