While the global automotive market is not so optimistic, China's transition to new energy vehicles (NEVs) is faster than expected and took the country by storm. Sun Hong, General Manager, Greater China Technical Solutions Center of Polyplastics Ltd., told our reporter that the market penetration rate of NEVs in China has reached 25% in 2022 and will definitely exceed 30% this year, amounting to 7 to 9 million new energy passenger vehicles.

“With the rise of new energy vehicles, automobile companies in China have taken this opportunity to make swift progress, as seen in the rapid growth of complete vehicles export. China has become the world's second largest car exporter and is just about to become number one,” said Sun. “We expect that high-performance materials used in new energy vehicles, such as PPS, will continue to grow. At the same time, materials related to autonomous driving are also currently a hotspot for material innovation.”

He said that Polyplastics is well-equipped to provide laser welding materials and electromagnetic shielding materials to fully meet the needs of customers. At present, the company’s new 90,000-ton POM polymerization plant in Nantong is under construction smoothly as planned, and will be ready for commercial operations by the end of 2024.

Sun Hong, General Manager, Greater China Technical Solutions Center of Polyplastics Ltd.

As a supplier of raw materials, Polyplastics insists on innovation and keeps up with the times while accelerating its transformation to green, environmentally-friendly production. This year, Polyplastics and its parent company Daicel Corporation for the first time jointly participate in CHINAPLAS 2023. The booth colour is in alternate red and blue to represent the profound relationship between Polyplastics and Daicel.

“Not only are we showcasing bio-based materials from Polyplastics, but also Daicel's marine-degradable and biodegradable environmentally friendly products to reflect our thoughts on and commitment to sustainable development – the commitment of Polyplastics and Daicel Corporation to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030,” said Sun.

He said that Polyplastics has been confident in the Chinese market and 2023 will be a year of opportunities and challenges. “Due to the war in Europe, the global economic outlook is still uncertain and the market on the whole is in a relatively weak state. But on the other hand, with the end of the three-year pandemic, the Chinese market is on its way to a vibrant recovery. We expect the Chinese market to perform well this year.”

Polyplastics has been utilizing biomass to produce DURACON bG-POM of the same quality as the conventional POM, addressing the growing need for reduced CO2 emission and fossil fuel usage.

In line with ISCC Plus certification, bG-POM is made from methanol produced by biomass raw materials. The total CO2 emission in the production process – from resource extraction to POM production – is up to 60% lower than that for conventional POM made from methanol produced by natural gas.

Creating molding materials in 3D printing with the SLS method is one application of DURAST Powder.

The newly developed DURAST Powder is another highlight at the Polyplastics booth. It is the answer from Polyplastics for using engineering plastics and adding new functionalities to products in manufacturing processes where pellets are incompatible.

DURAST Powder is offered in a distinctive shape with fine, narrow particle size distribution (10 μm-200 μm). The powder can improve product properties as an additive to other resins, create porous molded objects by sintering, create block materials through compression molding, and create molding materials in 3D printing with the SLS method.

Booth: 17L71