Dry strength additives are in strong demand in the papermaking field, and green environmental protection is the mainstream trend in the industry.
Dry strength agent refers to chemicals containing hydrophilic polymers that can improve the strength of paper. The working principle of dry strength agent is to disperse molecules into paper fibers and increase the number of hydrogen bonds between fibers to improve the folding resistance, bursting resistance and tensile strength of paper. Dry strength agent is an important papermaking auxiliary, and its end products include cultural paper, packaging paper, newsprint and household paper.
According to different raw materials, dry strength agents can be divided into modified cellulose-based dry strength agents, modified starch-based dry strength agents, synthetic polymer-based dry strength agents, and chitosan-based dry strength agents. Synthetic polymer dry strength agents can be subdivided into polyacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, glyoxalated polyacrylamide, etc. Polyacrylamide is a mainstream product in the dry strength agent market. It has the advantages of wide application range, low dosage, obvious effect, non-toxicity, and low production cost. In recent years, with technological advancement, my country’s polyacrylamide production capacity has expanded rapidly, which will lay a good foundation for the development of the dry strength agent industry.
According to the “2023-2027 Dry Strength Agent Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report released by the Industrial Research Center, papermaking The industry is the largest demand side for dry strength agents. With national policy support and the improvement of the technological maturity of local enterprises, my country’s papermaking industry has entered a stage of high-quality development. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the operating income of my country’s papermaking and paper products industry enterprises above designated size will reach 1.52289 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. Dry strength agents are important chemical agents for improving paper quality. As the development of downstream industries accelerates, their market size continues to grow, reaching nearly 5 billion yuan in 2022.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Work Plan for Stable Growth of Light Industry (2023-2024)”. The document clearly proposed to improve the energy conservation and carbon reduction level of the papermaking industry. In the future, with the gradual implementation of national energy conservation and environmental protection policies, my country’s papermaking industry will develop in a green direction. Against this background, the market share of my country’s new green dry strength additives is expected to further increase.
There are many dry strength agent manufacturers in my country, and the market competition is fierce. Weifang Environmental Protection, Huaruan Technology, Ruifeng Environmental Protection, Fumiao Technology, Taina Technology, Xin’an Technology, etc. are the main players in my country’s dry strength agent market. Huaruan Technology focuses on the research and development, production and sales of fine chemical products. It has reached cooperation with many paper manufacturers in my country, such as China Paper Industry and Chenming Paper Industry, to supply dry strength agents and other papermaking auxiliaries in bulk.
Industry analysts said that dry strength agents, as important chemical additives used in the papermaking process, have broad application prospects. In the future, with the tightening of national environmental protection policies and the improvement of independent research and development capabilities of local enterprises, my country’s dry strength agent industry will gradually develop in the direction of high quality, green and environmental protection. In terms of market competition, there are many players in my country’s dry strength agent market, and companies with high-performance product production capabilities will occupy a larger space in the market in the future.