my country is a major producer of polytetrahydrofuran (PTMEG) and spandex is its main application market.

Polytetrahydrofuran (PTMEG), also known as polytetramethylene ether glycol, is a polymer formed by cationic catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of tetrahydrofuran (THF). At room temperature, PTMEG appears as a white waxy solid, insoluble in water, but water-absorbent. PTMEG is easily oxidized, insoluble in aliphatic hydrocarbons, and soluble in alcohols, ketones, esters, chlorinated hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. As a high value-added fine chemical, PTMEG is mainly used in the production of spandex, polyurethane elastomers, ester-ether copolymer elastomers, etc., and is widely used in textiles, automobiles, medical, electric power, construction and other fields.

Spandex is PTMEG’s largest downstream market. my country is a major spandex producer. In 2020, the total production capacity of my country’s spandex industry will be close to 900,000 tons, with an output of about 730,000 tons. Spandex production processes include four types: dry spinning, melt spinning, wet spinning, and chemical reaction methods. Dry spinning is currently the main spandex processing technology, using PTMEG and pure MDI as the main raw materials. In recent years, with the improvement of residents’ living standards and consumption levels, the application of spandex in clothing, health and medical supplies, home textiles and other fields has gradually deepened, and consumption has increased year by year. As the core raw material of spandex, PTMEG’s market demand has also continued to increase.

According to the “2021-2025 Polytetrahydrofuran (PTMEG) Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report” released by the Industrial Research Center , from 2016 to 2020, the average annual compound growth rate of PTMEG industry output reached about 5.6%. At this stage, my country has become the world’s major PTMEG producer. Since June 2020, thanks to the growth in demand for spandex, the PTMEG market price has maintained a volatile growth trend. In October 2021, the transaction price of 1800 molecular weight PTMEG in East China reached 48,000 yuan/ton, which was nearly an increase from the national average price in 2020. 210 percentage points.

Depending on the catalyst, the PTMEG preparation process mainly includes fuming sulfuric acid method, perchloric acid method, fluorosulfonic acid method and solid catalyst method. In the international market, BASF, DuPont, Mitsubishi Chemical and other companies have relatively large production scales of PTMEG. In recent years, due to the large amount of new PTMEG production capacity, my country’s PTMEG production capacity has steadily increased, and the overall market is currently in a state of overcapacity. Domestic PTMEG-related manufacturers include Shanxi Sanwei, Sanlong New Materials, Sinochem Taicang, Tianhua Fubang, Wanxiang Chemical, Jinheng Chemical, etc. my country’s PTMEG industry started late, and there is still a certain gap between domestic companies and international companies in terms of production scale, technology research and development, and brand building.

Industry analysts said that spandex is PTMEG’s largest downstream market. With the expansion of spandex application fields, the spandex market size will further expand. This will bring new support to the development of the PTMEG industry. At this stage, my country has become a major producer of PTMEG, but there is still a certain gap between domestic companies and international companies. In the future, domestic companies should increase investment in product and technology research and development, improve product quality, and promote the upgrading of the PTMEG industry to high-end.