As a new biodegradable material, polylactic acid (PLA) industry has good development prospects

Polylactic acid (PLA), also known as polylactide, is a new biodegradable material. Polylactic acid must be produced through artificial synthesis and is the largest product in the bio-based and biodegradable plastic market. At present, polylactic acid is mainly used in medicine, textiles, packaging materials, agriculture, automobile manufacturing and other fields.

The use of plastic packaging continues to grow, causing environmental pollution problems to become increasingly prominent, and the country attaches great importance to this. The “Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution” issued in 2020 clearly stated that the use of non-degradable plastic bags is prohibited in shopping malls, pharmacies and other places as well as in various exhibition activities, and is prohibited from being used in postal express outlets. Non-degradable plastic packaging bags, disposable plastic woven bags, etc. Driven by national environmental protection policies, polylactic acid will gain broad development space as a non-degradable plastic alternative.

The raw materials of polylactic acid are renewable plant resources, including corn, sugar beets, sweet potatoes, cassava, straw, cereal husks, etc. my country is a major agricultural country, and the supply of corn and other crops has maintained steady growth. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s corn output will reach 272.55 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. The stable supply of raw materials has driven the continuous increase in my country’s polylactic acid production. At the same time, driven by the technological innovation of production companies, my country’s polylactic acid production capacity continues to expand. In 2021, my country’s effective annual polylactic acid production capacity will reach 225,000 tons.

According to the “2022-2027 Polylactic Acid Industry Development Prospects and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, packaging materials It is the largest demand side for polylactic acid, with demand accounting for as high as 70.0%. As the concept of green environmental protection continues to deepen, polylactic acid is favored by many consumers as a degradable packaging material, driving its market demand to continue to grow. Polylactic acid accounts for 20.0% of the demand in the pharmaceutical field and can be used to produce drug sustained-release packaging and disassembly-free surgical sutures.

Although my country’s polylactic acid production continues to grow, it still cannot meet market demand and needs to rely on imports. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s polylactic acid import volume will reach 25,000 tons in 2021, with an import value of US$90 million. The United States and Thailand are my country’s main importers of polylactic acid, accounting for nearly 95.0% of my country’s total import volume.

In the global market, polylactic acid production capacity is mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States. Well-known polylactic acid suppliers include NatureWorks in the United States and Synbra Technology in the Netherlands. In the local market, due to factors such as high technical barriers, there are only five polylactic acid manufacturers in my country with a capacity of over 10,000 tons, including Shenzhen Guanghua Weiye, Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials, China Hengtian Group, Anhui Fengyuan Group and Jilin COFCO Biomaterials , the above enterprises account for 93.8% of my country’s total polylactic acid production capacity. Industry analysts said that with the continuous breakthroughs in production technology and the support of national policies, the size of my country’s polylactic acid market has increased will continue to expand and production capacity will continue to expand.