With globalization under way, overseas expansion has become one of the key strategies for China's plastics industry and related application industries to expand their market and boost competitiveness.

To gain an in-depth understanding of the current situation, future trends and impact on supply chain management as China’s plastics industry and related application industries expand abroad, Adsale Plastics Network (AdsaleCPRJ.com) has recently conducted an online survey under the theme "Current situation and upcoming trends of China's plastics industry and application sectors going global". 

The survey covered chemical raw materials, plastics machinery and plastics downstream applications industries, including automotive, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and plastic packaging, medical equipment and pharmaceutical packaging, and consumer electronics/home appliances. A total of 1,792 valid responses were received.

Industry types: Respondents came from six major sectors of the plastics industry. Among them, plastics processing machinery and supporting industries and automobiles have the largest number of respondents, accounting for 26% and 27% respectively. Chemical raw materials, medical equipment/medicine/medical packaging, daily chemicals/beauty/personal care/food and beverage/plastic packaging accounted for 13%, 13%, and 12% respectively, while consumer electronics/home appliances accounting for only 7%.

Proportion of export: Around 92% of the respondents have export business, among which a quarter of them has an export proportion of less than 10%; nearly half of them, or 47.1%, has an export proportion of 10% to 30%, which accounted for the largest proportion; 20% of them has an export proportion of 30% to 50% or more. It can be seen that although most companies have export business, only a minority has an export ratio exceeding 30%.

Export situation, supply chain management and future trends

Automobiles: Results show that popular export products in the automobile industry include pure electric/hybrid vehicles, fuel vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, and interior and exterior decoration parts, with proportions ranging from 20.71% to 55%, among which pure electric/hybrid vehicles and hydrogen vehicles are currently the most popular new energy vehicles on the market.

Combined with data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's automobile exports increased by 57.9% in 2023 compared to the previous year, ranking first in the world. Among them, new energy vehicle exports reached 1.203 million units, an increase of 77.6% over the same period last year. New energy vehicles sold to Belgium, Thailand and Spain gained a significant growth rate, while Europe and Southeast Asia have become the main battlefields as Chinese automobiles expand overseas, especially for new energy vehicles.

Medical equipment: Results show that the proportion of dental/orthopedic products, low-value consumables and interventional stents is between 33.33% and 40.58%, forming the most important export products. The proportion of medium and large medical equipment, and household medical equipment also reached 28.99% and 17.39% respectively.

According to data analysis by the General Administration of Customs of China, China's exports of traditional medical equipment returned to normal in 2023. Compared to the export volume of US$36.071 billion in 2019 before the pandemic, China's medical equipment exports in 2023 (which amounted to US$41.642 billion) maintained a growth rate of 26.21%, with the US, Japan, Germany and Russia as China's main export markets for medical equipment in 2023.

FMCG and packaging: Among the respondents, daily chemicals, beauty and personal care products accounted for the most exports at around 68.75%. FMCG plastic packaging and food and beverage packaging also accounted for more than 30% of the exports.

According to Adsale Plastics Network, Chinese domestic brands have been accelerating their overseas deployment since 2023. Data from the General Administration of Customs of China show that from January to December 2023, China’s export value of beauty cosmetics and toiletries products reached 45.8 billion Yuan, an increase of 22.8% over the same period last year. 

Consumer electronics/home appliances: Among the companies surveyed, top exports were smartphones and accessories, accounting for 40.54%. They are followed by tablets and notebook computers and small household appliances, accounting for 32.43% and 29.73% respectively. Exports of large appliances (such as refrigerators and washing machines), consumer electronics, televisions and audio-visual equipment accounted for 21.62 to 18.92%.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the export value of household electrical appliances in 2023 was 617.4 billion Yuan, an increase of 9.9% over the same period last year. In recent years, China's home appliance industry has been transforming and upgrading rapidly. New trends for the home appliance industry to expand abroad include developing products that are more intelligent, going high-end and branding.

Popular export destinations: The US, Europe, Southeast Asia, Mexico, South America and Russia are the top six export destinations in this survey.

China's top exports to the US, which is the world's largest import country, are electronic products, home furnishings, textiles, toys, machinery and equipment, chemical products, and food and beverages. Meanwhile, Europe is a regional market that has better industrial infrastructure, higher consumption levels and higher tolerance. Many Chinese companies regard "going overseas to Europe" as a bridgehead to enhance their brand image. On the other hand, as Mexico is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Chinese companies, whether selling products to Mexico or setting up factories there, use Mexico as a "springboard" to enter the North American market.

Export plans: Although 76% of the respondents said that their companies will increase exports in 2024, around 40% of them will grow at around 10%, while 17% of the respondents will not grow or stay the same, and only 10% of the respondents said that the growth rate will be at a relatively large rate of 30% to 50% or more.

It can be seen that most respondents will see export growth in 2024, but growth will mainly be slight or remain flat. Judging from the stage of overseas development, some leading companies have shifted from pure trade exports to establishing R&D or production bases overseas in order to better meet overseas market demand and expand market share.

Overseas operations approach: Results reveal that 27.64% of the respondents said that they have established R&D or production bases overseas. In addition, 45.53% of them said that starting from 2024, they will gradually set up overseas R&D or production bases in the next 3 to 5 years. Among them, 20.12% plan to establish overseas R&D or production bases in 2024. Meanwhile, 27.64% have not established overseas bases, and a very small number (1.02%) of the respondents said that they do not plan to establish production or R&D bases overseas. It can be seen that overseas expansion has developed from trading to a more in-depth approach of setting up overseas factories or R&D facilities.

Supply chain: Whether it be automobiles, medical equipment, home appliances/consumer electronics, or fast moving consumer goods and plastic packaging, companies that have set up overseas production bases must have a reliable supply chain. The survey also investigated this area on plastics machinery and plastics raw materials.

For companies that set up overseas production facilities, when it comes to purchasing plastics machinery or selecting raw materials suppliers, 40.93% to 47.66% give priority to nearby suppliers (plastics machinery or chemical raw materials). 

China's plastics machinery exports

According to respondents that are plastics machinery companies, blow molding machines, extruders and thermoforming equipment are the top three exports in plastics machinery. 

Considering the uneven distribution of respondents, Adsale Plastics Network looked into reports compiled by the China Plastics Machinery Industry Association. 

In 2023, China's plastics machinery exports amounted US$7.4 billion, an annual increase of 8%, while injection molding machine exports was approximately US$1.7 billion, an annual increase of around 7%, which has become one of the most important exports by China's plastics machinery industry. The export of extruders, blow molding machines and plastics calendering machines also recorded annual growth.

China’s plastics raw materials exports 

According to respondents, the top four chemical exports are general purpose plastics, engineering plastics, special engineering plastics and additives. It is worth noting that the export proportion of "recycled plastics", which has attracted much attention in recent years, also reached 10%.

As a major producer of general purpose plastics, China's exports have grown year by year in recent years as domestic synthetic resin technology develops. According to data from China National Chemical Information Centre, although the export volume of the five major general purpose synthetic resins from 2020 to 2022 is small, its growth momentum is amazing. The average annual export growth rate was as high as 72.8%, of which PP and PVC achieved the largest growth.

Conclusion

According to the survey result, together with compiling industry data and corporate case studies, we found that as global plastics industry chain speeds up its consolidation, China’s plastics raw materials, plastics machinery and key downstream application industries are constantly seeking new development opportunities and overseas models that suit them as they expand abroad. They are also looking for a new positioning amidst the changing relationship between cooperation and competition in the regional economies around the world.