The market space for polyether modified silicone oil is vast and local companies lack competitive advantages

According to different chemical structures, silicone oil can be divided into modified silicone oil and methyl silicone oil. Modified silicone oil refers to a silicone oil product obtained by replacing part of the methyl groups with certain organic groups. Polyether modified silicone oil, referred to as polyether silicone oil, is a unique silicone nonionic surfactant formed by graft copolymerization of polyether and dimethylsiloxane. Polyether modified silicone oil has the characteristics of good demulsification, good softness and excellent leveling properties, and is widely used in agriculture, paints and coatings, textiles, cosmetics and other fields.

The main raw materials of polyether modified silicone oil are polyether and dimethylsiloxane. Polyether is a versatile synthetic oil that can be used to produce demulsifiers, wetting agents, defoaming agents and other products. Driven by downstream demand, my country’s polyether production has been increasing year by year. In 2021, my country’s polyether production reached 4.496 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 24.4%. As the severe situation of the COVID-19 epidemic gradually comes under control, many manufacturers will resume work and production, and polyether production will further increase by then. The advantages of raw materials provide guarantee for the development of my country’s polyether modified silicone oil industry.

According to the “2022-2027 China Polyether Modified Silicone Oil Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center It shows that polyether modified silicone oil has excellent performance and has a wide range of applications. In the agricultural field, polyether modified silicone oil can be used in the production of plastic greenhouses to improve light transmittance and prevent fogging. It can also be used as a wetting and spreading agent for the herbicide glyphosate; in the cosmetic field, polyether modified silicone oil can be used to produce plastic greenhouses. Facial cream products made from modified silicone oil have a moisturizing effect; in the textile field, polyether-modified silicone oil can improve the hydrophilicity and softness of textile fabrics. Driven by downstream demand, my country’s polyether modified silicone oil market continues to expand, reaching 4.67 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%.

The major global manufacturers of polyether-modified silicone oil include Dow Chemical Company of the United States, Xiameter of Dow Corning Company of the United States, ShinEtsu of Japan, BYK of Germany, and B-BYK of Germany. my country’s polyether-modified silicone oil industry started late. In the early days, it relied heavily on imported raw materials and lacked research, resulting in relatively lagging technological development. At present, the main manufacturers of polyether modified silicone oil in my country include Blue Star Adisseo Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Xin’an Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Yangzhou Chenhua New Materials Co., Ltd., etc. According to the financial report of Chenhua New Materials Company, the company’s surfactant segment achieved revenue of 720 million yuan in 2021, accounting for 60.0% of total revenue.

Industry analysts said that polyether modified silicone oil has excellent performance and wide range of uses. As market demand is gradually released, the future development prospects of the industry Will keep getting better. Benefiting from the sufficient supply of raw materials, my country’s polyether-modified silicone oil production continues to increase. However, there is still a certain gap between my country’s polyether-modified silicone oil production technology and overseas developed countries, and there is still room for optimization of the industry structure.