Thread Content
In recent years, major foreign silicone companies have successively established in China wholly-owned or joint-venture enterprises for the production of primary silicone polymers or for the further processing of such products, aiming to gain a foothold in the Chinese market through advantages in scale, product quality, and price, thus posing severe challenges to China’s silicone industry. How to develop China’s silicone industry? Recently, our newspaper’s reporters interviewed Meng Xiangfeng, deputy director of the Technical Committee at the Beijing Petrochemical Design Institute and a professor-level senior engineer. Reporter: Director Meng, you were the first person to industrialize silicone. In your opinion, what is the gap between China’s silicone industry and those abroad at present? Meng Xiangfeng: The gap between the domestic and foreign silicone industries is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is the industrial structure. The downstream industrial chains for methylchlorosilane monomers in foreign companies extend all the way to basic polymers and fully processed end products. These companies process at least 70% of their polysiloxane intermediates into various products, which are sold directly to end users; there are as many as 3,000 to 5,000 different products available, which results in a value added of up to $100 million per ton for their polysiloxanes. The second is the comprehensive utilization of by-products. Foreign companies have properly handled all methyl monomers, either by utilizing them or as raw materials for vapor-phase silica. In addition to the methyl monomer series, there is also an HSiCl3 industry chain. HSiCl3 is divided into chemical grade and semiconductor grade, with the former serving as a raw material for silicone monomers such as phenyl monomers and vinyl monomers ； The latter is mostly used to produce high-purity silicon as a semiconductor material. SiCl4, produced as a by-product in the HSiCl3 plant and the high-purity silicon plant, is used to produce fumed silica. As is well known, both high-purity silicon and vapor-phase silica are technology-intensive, capital-intensive products with high added value. Clearly, such an industrial structure endows foreign companies with strong competitiveness and risk resistance. Domestic production of methylchlorosilane monomer is concentrated in a few state-owned enterprises, and most of the primary polysiloxanes (D4/DMC) produced by these enterprises are intended for sale ； Post-processed products are manufactured by over a thousand enterprises of varying sizes, the vast majority of which are private companies. This form of industrial division of labor inevitably brings about some problems: First, in a market economy environment, the D4/DMC used by downstream processing enterprises is sourced from various sources (including domestic and imported products, as well as smuggled goods), which puts domestic D4/DMC in competition with imported D4/DMC. Therefore, if domestic single-unit manufacturers do not make efforts to improve their technology, it will be difficult for them to cope with the increasingly fierce and brutal competition. Second, since monomer manufacturers focus solely on monomer production, many private enterprises in the post-processing sector, constrained by limited funding and technical capabilities, mainly produce low-cost, quickly marketable products. Although there are numerous research papers on new products published by universities and research institutions, few of these end up as commercial products available on the market. As a result, China’s silicone product portfolio has remained at around 500–600 varieties for decades. Moreover, in our country, the application areas of silicone are mainly concentrated in construction, textiles, and electronics. Many fields, especially those related to high-end products and specialized items, still need to be developed, and it is difficult to carry out this work relying solely on the current division of labor in production. Reporter: It is understood that hydrochloric acid is produced as a by-product in the silicone production process. How can this by-product be comprehensively utilized to achieve circular economic benefits? Meng Xiangfeng: In fact, hydrochloric acid is not only produced as a by-product in the silicone production process; it is also generated as a by-product in the production of chloromethanes and organofluorines. There is a significant gap between domestic companies and outstanding foreign companies in terms of how to make comprehensive use of this by-product. In the silicone monomer plants of several large companies abroad, the recycling rate of chlorine in hydrochloric acid is over 85%; that is, a methyl chlorosilane monomer plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons only needs to replenish 9,000 tons of hydrogen chloride per year, and a caustic soda plant with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons is sufficient to support it ； If no caustic soda plant is available, it is also feasible to supply 13,000 tons per year of chloromethane from outside. In China’s silicone manufacturers, the recycling rate of chlorine is currently only around 55%. There are mainly three reasons for the low recycling rate of chlorine in Chinese enterprises: first, the selectivity for synthesizing dimethyl from methyl monomer is low ； Second, the consumption of hydrogen chloride in the synthesis of chloromethane is too high ； Third, the by-produced methylchlorosilane monomer is not comprehensively utilized, resulting in the loss of chlorine contained within it. Reporter: Faced with international market competition, how can China’s silicone enterprises enhance their competitiveness? Meng Xiangfeng: I mainly have five suggestions: First, be willing to invest in order to drive technological progress. Effective incentive mechanisms are needed; in external collaborations, the issue of sharing outcomes must be addressed, and more importantly, there must be sufficient funding to ensure this. Second, while expanding scale, attention should be paid to technological progress. It is essential to change the poor tendency of focusing solely on expanding scale while neglecting technological progress, emphasizing only cost savings while ignoring the level of equipment, and concentrating only on the main processes and units while disregarding the integrity of the entire process. Third, it is necessary to strengthen the internal operational mechanisms of enterprises. To change the extensive management style inherited from the planned economy and adopt more detailed management, it is necessary to have first-class strategies as well as first-class implementation capabilities. Fourth, explore ways of integrating enterprises through capital, technology, and markets as links. In our country, individual manufacturing enterprises can form partnerships with research institutions, as well as with private enterprises in the post-processing sector that possess technology, products, market access, and skilled personnel. This allows for complementary strengths, the extension of the enterprise’s industrial chain, market expansion, and the recruitment of talent, thereby strengthening the enterprise’s capabilities. Monomer manufacturers can also join forces to compete internationally. Fifth, decisions must be made carefully. Driven by the rapid growth of the domestic market, the substantial profits resulting from advances in silicone monomer technology, as well as supportive policies, not only have existing silicone monomer producers expanded their production capacities, but by 2010 the domestic production capacity of methylchlorosilane monomers was expected to exceed 1.6 million tons per year. Including projects established by foreign companies in China on a wholly-owned basis as well as those jointly funded by Chinese and foreign parties, the total production capacity of silicone monomers would surpass 2 million tons per year. Such rapid growth will lead to a reversal in the balance between market supply and demand; the profit margins for silicone monomers will become increasingly narrow, and it will also trigger unfettered competition for talent resources. Therefore, businesses must calmly analyze their own strengths and weaknesses before making decisions.