Benefiting from the high prosperity of the downstream market, the proportion of heavy alkali production in my country continues to rise.

Soda ash (sodium carbonate), industrial products mainly include two types: light soda ash and heavy soda ash. Heavy alkali (sodium bicarbonate), the molecular formula is NaHCO3, also known as baking soda. It appears as white crystalline powder, odorless, and tastes salty and astringent. Heavy alkali is soluble in water, insoluble in ethanol, and is easy to decompose. At room temperature, heavy alkali aqueous solution can slowly decompose. At 50°C, heavy alkali solid begins to decompose, and the decomposition products of heavy alkali are sodium carbonate, carbon dioxide, and water.

According to the “In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report on Heavy Alkali Industry 2021-2025” released by the Industrial Research Center, heavy alkali It can be widely used in glass, detergent, metal smelting, food additives, feed additives, medicine, veterinary medicine, fire protection and other fields. Glass is an important downstream market for heavy alkali. It is mainly used to produce float glass and optical glass. Float glass can be used as architectural glass, automotive glass, etc. Optical glass is mainly used in the photovoltaic field.

Due to the high cost of production shutdown, the float glass production line will operate for a long time after ignition, and since 2018, the demand for float glass in my country has been relatively stable, so the demand for heavy alkali in the float glass market segment has been relatively stable. my country’s photovoltaic industry is developing rapidly. According to the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, my country’s total installed photovoltaic capacity will reach 730 million kilowatts by 2025, which is good for the development of the photovoltaic glass industry. Therefore, the demand for heavy alkali in the photovoltaic glass market segment is expected to continue to rise.

During the soda ash production process, enterprises can flexibly adjust the production ratio of heavy alkali and light alkali according to downstream market demand. Due to the relatively high market sentiment, the proportion of heavy alkali production in my country’s soda ash market has shown an overall upward trend since 2011, increasing from 42% in 2011 to 49% in 2019, while the proportion of light alkali production has shown a downward trend. . From this point of view, the development prospects of my country’s heavy alkali industry are relatively good.

my country is a major producer of heavy alkali. Driven by demand, industry production capacity continues to expand, resulting in serious overcapacity. In 2010, my country introduced policies to raise the entry threshold for the heavy alkali industry. Since 2016, my country’s environmental protection policies have become increasingly stringent, coupled with increasingly fierce market competition, the backward heavy alkali production capacity has gradually been phased out. At present, there are less than 30 heavy alkali manufacturers in my country, mainly including Sanyou Chemical, Shandong Haihua, Jinshan Chemical, Shandong Haitian, Zhongyuan Chemical, Kunlun Alkali Industry, Qinghai Development Investment, Wucai Alkali Industry, etc.

Industry analysts said that soda ash is an important organic chemical raw material. Among its two main subdivided products, due to the downstream float process The demand for glass is stable, the demand for photovoltaic glass is growing, and the heavy alkali market is relatively robust. Therefore, soda ash enterprises increase the proportion of heavy alkali production and reduce the proportion of light alkali production. Since 2011, the proportion of my country’s heavy alkali production in soda ash production has continued to rise. my country’s photovoltaic industry is still developing rapidly, the output of new energy vehicles is rising, the float glass and photovoltaic glass markets have good prospects, and the heavy alkali market space in the future is still broad.