Metallurgy / Chemicals / Rubber & Plastics

Compared with ABS, ASA has greatly improved weather resistance due to the introduction of acrylate rubber without double bonds. It has been widely used in automobiles, building materials, electronic appliances (gas) and other fields. It will replace ABS in the future with special-purpose specifications. Optimistic. At present, due to the insufficient supply of ASA high-rubber powder in China, production and consumption are restricted. It is very important to develop advanced high-rubber powder preparation technology and supporting advanced production equipment.

Performance comparison between ABS and ASA

ABS resin is an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, which has good surface gloss, heat resistance, chemical resistance, impact resistance and good processing properties. It is mainly used in household appliances, electronic and electrical, transportation (Automotive) and other terminal areas. ABS is one of the thermoplastic resins with the largest market capacity. In 2019, global and Chinese production capacity reached 11.93 million tons/year and 4.11 million tons/year respectively.

ABS has poor weather resistance. Because the grafted butadiene rubber structure contains unsaturated carbon-carbon double bonds, it is prone to degradation under the action of ultraviolet light, and the impact strength drops by half after half a year outdoors. This has become the biggest limiting factor for the wider application of ABS.

ASA resin is acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate copolymer, and the main production process is the blending method of ASA high rubber powder and SAN resin (styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer). In both ABS resin and ASA resin, the continuous phase is SAN, and the main difference lies in the rubber grafted on the dispersed phase. Due to the introduction of acrylic rubber without double bonds, the weather resistance of ASA resin is about 10 times higher than that of ABS resin, and its mechanical properties, processing properties, electrical insulation properties, and chemical resistance are not much different from ABS resin. ASA resin has been widely used in many automotive interior and exterior, building materials, electronic and electrical fields.

The performance comparison between ASA and ABS is shown in Table 1.

The world's major ASA resin manufacturers have achieved integrated production

ASA resin was successfully developed by BASF in 1962 and realized industrialization. The global registered trade name is Luran®S ASA. Subsequently, UMG ABS Co., Ltd. of Japan and GE of the United States realized industrial production in 1980 and 1984, respectively. At present, the global ASA resin manufacturers mainly include: INEOS Styrolution (Luran®S), SABIC (GeloyTM), Techno-UMG (DiaLac®), South Korea’s Kumho (KUMHO), South Korea’s LG Chem, South Korea’s Lotte, Japan’s A&L (Sumitomo), As well as Taiwan's Chi Mei, Taiwan Chemical Fiber (TAIRILAC®ASA Resin), etc. in Taiwan.

ASA's production process is similar to ABS. At present, overseas ASA manufacturers are basically world-renowned ABS resin manufacturers. Except for mainland China, the world's major ASA resin manufacturers have integrated production of ASA resins and ASA high rubber powders.

According to estimates by the consulting agency Markets and Research, the global ASA resin market capacity in 2020 is 971 million U.S. dollars. Estimated at a unit price of 2,600 U.S. dollars per ton, the production and sales volume is about 373,000 tons, with an average growth rate of 13.2% from 2018 to 2020. According to IHS Markit data, global ABS consumption will be 9.34 million tons in 2019 and about 9.5 million tons in 2020. Global ASA consumption will be about 3.9% of ABS consumption in 2020. It is estimated that it will reach 50.3 tons in 2025, with an average compound growth rate of 6.2% from 2020 to 2025. Global ABS consumption is expected to reach 11.6 million tons in 2025, and ASA consumption will be 4.3% of ABS consumption by then.

In the future, the expansion of my country's ASA high rubber powder production capacity will help the development of ASA resin

1 Production status

In 2020, the domestic output of ASA resin is about 74,700 tons, with an average growth rate of 12.7% from 2018 to 2020. The domestic production of ASA resin is relatively scattered. There are about 17 companies with an output of more than 1,000 tons in 2020. Among them, Kumho Rili has the largest scale, with an output of about 14,000 tons. my country's ASA resin industry has a low degree of concentration. The production companies are mainly divided into two categories: one is modified plastics companies, such as Kumho Rili, Kingfa Technology, etc.; the other is building materials resin production companies. The output share of the top five ASA resin manufacturers in my country in 2020 is shown in Figure 1.

At present, there is no ASA resin manufacturer integrated with ASA high-rubber powder in China. ASA resin production is all in the modification plant, using ASA high-rubber powder and SAN resin as the main raw materials, and is produced on a twin-screw extruder.

my country's ASA high-rubber powder supply includes domestic and imported two parts. In 2020, the production capacity of my country's ASA high rubber powder is about 11,000 tons/year. The production companies are mainly Guangzhou Entropy, Anqiu Donghai Plastic Industry, and Zibo Huaxing Additives, as shown in Figure 2.

The main overseas suppliers of imported ASA high-rubber powder in my country are Kumho from South Korea, while the rest are mostly supplied by Techno-UMG, LG, Lotte and Taiwan Chemicals to their affiliated companies; the world’s major ASA resin manufacturer Ineos Styrol The domestic market supplies ASA high gum powder.

2 Production forecast

At present, there are 5 known ASA resin projects under construction in my country (excluding modification companies), with a production capacity of nearly 130,000 tons/year. It is conservatively estimated that between 2021 and 2025, my country will newly increase the production capacity of ASA resin (including modified enterprises) by about 65,000 tons per year, and the total output in 2025 will reach about 115,000 tons. The increase in the supply capacity of my country's ASA high rubber powder will help increase the output of my country's ASA resin. See Table 2 for the details of the ASA projects under construction in my country.

In the future, ASA has a promising future in the direction of replacing ABS special-purpose specifications

Since the advent of ASA, its position in a series of applications has been established due to its excellent weather resistance and typical mechanical properties similar to ABS. In 2020, the consumption of ASA in my country is about 113,000 tons, with an average growth rate of 5.1% from 2018 to 2020. my country's ASA resin is mainly used in automobiles, building materials, electronic appliances (gas) and other fields. In 2020, the consumption of automobiles and building materials will account for about 53.0% and 37.9%, respectively. The consumption of electronic appliances (gas) and other aspects The proportions are about 7.6% and 1.5% respectively.

1Automotive

ABS and PC/ABS resins are widely used in automotive interior parts due to their light weight, flexible design, low manufacturing cost, and excellent performance. However, their weather resistance is insufficient and cannot be directly applied in exterior parts and must be painted. Can be used. In addition to high weather resistance and high heat resistance, ASA resin also has the characteristics of high surface gloss and high surface hardness. It can meet the requirements of automobile manufacturers for mechanical properties and weather resistance of materials. It can be directly applied to rearview mirrors, Column boards, door triangles, license plates and other automotive exterior parts that require high appearance and weather resistance. Using high gloss spray-free heat-resistant ASA resin injection molding automotive exterior parts, the surface can get high gloss, high weather resistance and high surface hardness without spraying treatment, which can replace ABS or PC/ABS painted parts. ASA resin can also be used in primer-free automotive taillights. Surface treatment processes such as primer spraying are not required before vacuum evaporation, which is beneficial to reduce costs, improve efficiency and protect the environment. In terms of car interiors, more and more car dealers have adopted ASA resins in recent years, such as instrument panels, endoscope housings, decorative panels, etc. The ASA resin has high brightness on the surface, so it has received more and more attention.

2Building materials industry

ASA is mainly used to produce profiles and synthetic resin tiles in the building materials industry. Initially, ASA for profiles was a major product of General Plastics Group, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE). In 2002, it was used as a co-extrusion raw material to market in China's PVC color co-extrusion profile market under the registered trademark of GEOLY. With the development of the color ASA profile market, major domestic profile manufacturers and plastic modification plants have begun to produce modified color ASA independently. Natural ASA suppliers, such as LG Chem, BASF, etc. have gradually occupied a certain share of the industry.

In the field of profiles, PVC plastic doors and windows have been widely popularized and applied in the country because of their light weight, corrosion resistance, high strength, heat preservation, sealing and sound insulation, energy saving and environmental protection, easy processing and low cost. Although PVC has good mechanical properties, it has poor stability to light and heat. It will decompose to produce hydrogen chloride above 100℃ or after long-term sunlight exposure, and will further autocatalyze decomposition, causing discoloration and rapid physical and mechanical properties. decline.

ASA has excellent weather resistance and good mechanical properties. The colored plastic profiles produced by co-extrusion of ASA resin and PVC have extremely high weather resistance and rich and stable colors. ASA not only has a heat-resistant temperature of 20°C higher than that of PVC, but also maintains 75% of the impact resistance at room temperature at -30°C; the ASA co-extruded layer has good compatibility with the PVC substrate, and the thickness of the co-extruded layer is stable.

The weather resistance of the profiles produced by ASA and PVC co-extrusion has passed the 6000-hour test of the National Chemical Building Materials Testing Center. It has high weather resistance and stable color. It will not change color or discolor under long-term outdoor exposure, and can still maintain Completeness of color.

In the field of synthetic resin tiles, the synthetic resin tiles co-extruded with PVC as the basic raw material and ASA have super weather resistance and are not easy to change color; they can be personalized color selection, beautiful and environmentally friendly; in addition, they also have light weight, high strength, and waterproof Moisture-proof, anti-corrosion, flame-retardant, sound insulation and heat insulation, etc., are widely used in roof paving such as shopping malls, residential communities, villas, awnings, awnings, antique construction, etc. use.

3Electronics and electrical appliances (gas)

In terms of household appliances, the characteristics of ASA resin can meet the strict requirements of washing machine panels, refrigerator handles, mouthwash packaging, sewing machines, kitchen utensils, grills and microwave ovens. With the rapid development of the wireless communication field, there are more and more applications of external parts of wireless signal antennas, and this part needs to have high weather resistance, corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. ASA resin can be widely used in outdoor equipment such as various outdoor antennas, TV antenna components, and underground optical cable connection boxes. ASA resin can also be used for the back panel of mobile phones. Compared with ceramic or glass materials, ASA resin has lower price, higher yield and superior drop resistance. With the commercialization of 5G, non-shielding signal materials should be used for the back shell of mobile phones, and the ASA resin material meets the requirements. At present, Huawei and other mobile phone backplanes use ASA resin materials.

4 other

ASA's excellent weather resistance enables it to maintain good long-term use in harsh environments. In photovoltaic systems, solar panels support frames, solar street lights, outdoor alarms, sensors, gardening irrigation equipment, road signs, and post boxes. , Power lawnmowers, gasoline powered lawnmower shells, sports equipment and leisure products are widely used.

Due to stricter environmental protection policies, spray-free ASA resin materials can replace electroplating-grade ABS, and the consumption ratio of ASA resin to ABS resin will increase. In the future, the development of my country's new energy vehicles, urbanization development, shantytown renovation, old community renovation, rural infrastructure upgrading, the implementation of new infrastructure, and the increase in photovoltaic installed capacity will drive the demand for my country's ASA to increase. It is estimated that in 2025, the demand for ASA resin in my country will reach about 156,000 tons, with an average annual growth rate of about 6.7% in 2020-2025.

The consumption structure and forecast of ASA in my country are shown in Table 3.

In 2020, my country's ABS consumption is about 6.12 million tons, and ASA consumption is about 1.8% of ABS consumption. It is estimated that my country's ABS consumption will reach about 7.6 million tons in 2025, and ASA consumption will be about 2.1% of ABS consumption. This is an increase of 0.3 percentage points from 2020, but still lags behind the world level by about 2.2 percentage points.

In the future, my country's ASA resin import dependence will further decline

In 2020, my country's ASA resin output is about 75,000 tons, and the demand is about 113,000 tons. The supply and demand gap is about 38,000 tons; the import dependence is about 34%, which is about 8 percentage points lower than in 2018. Domestic overseas suppliers of imported ASA resin are mainly Ineos Styrolene, LG Chem, Kumho, Techno-UMG, Lotte, and Taiwan Chemicals.

On the supply side, with the completion of the planned ASA resin project in my country, the total output of ASA resin in China will reach 115,000 tons; on the demand side, my country’s automobile, building materials, electronic appliances (gas) and other fields will be resistant to styrene-based weathering. The demand for resin will increase, which will drive the consumption growth of ASA resin in my country.

It is estimated that my country's ASA resin demand will reach 156,000 tons in 2025, and there will still be a supply-demand gap of about 41,000 tons. Since domestic production growth is higher than demand growth, import dependence will further drop to 26%.

The supply and demand balance and forecast of ASA resin in my country are shown in Table 4.

The main development direction and suggestions of my country's ASA resin industry in the future

1

Due to the introduction of acrylic rubber without double bonds, the weather resistance of ASA resin is about 10 times higher than that of ABS resin, and its mechanical properties, processing properties, electrical insulation properties, and chemical resistance are not much different from ABS resin. ASA resin is mainly used in occasions with high weather resistance requirements, such as automotive interior and exterior parts, building materials, electronic appliances (gas) and other fields. In order to meet the requirements of environmental protection and new energy materials, the future development direction of ASA resin is to replace ABS special-purpose specifications and meet the environmental protection requirements for spray-free and electroplating-free processes.

2

Because the production process is similar to ABS resin, ASA resin can be produced by existing ABS resin production equipment. Overseas ASA resin production companies are mainly well-known ABS manufacturers, and the integrated production from ASA high rubber powder to ASA resin has basically been realized. However, domestic ASA resin manufacturers are mainly modified companies, and have basically not realized integrated production. Restricted by the supply of ASA high-rubber powder, the production and consumption of ASA resin in my country are limited, and there is a certain gap between supply and demand. Compared with the international market, the consumption ratio of ASA resin to ABS resin in my country is relatively low.

3

The performance index, product grade and price level of ASA resin largely depend on the production process and product structure of ASA high rubber powder. The development of advanced high-rubber powder preparation technology and supporting advanced production equipment are vital to the development of my country's ASA resin industry.