PBO fiber is highly monopolized globally with very few domestic production companies

Polyparaphenylene benzobisoxazole fiber (PBO fiber) is currently recognized as the fiber material with the best comprehensive performance. It has the characteristics of ultra-high strength, ultra-high modulus, high temperature resistance and high environmental stability. It is my country’s independent fiber material. R&D and production, one of the high-end fiber products that breaks through foreign technology monopoly and blockade.

The development of global PBO can be traced back to the 1960s. The Stanford University Research Institute in the United States first obtained the PBO fiber patent, and then Dow Chemical and Japan’s Toyobo were authorized successively, and gradually realized large-scale industrial production. Before 2019, the development process of PBO in my country has been relatively slow. Although domestic universities such as East China University of Science and Technology, Donghua University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shanghai University, as well as Chengdu Xinchen New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. and Ganzhou Xiweier Metal Materials Technology Co., Ltd. The company, Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd. and other related companies have done a lot of research on PBO fiber. However, due to technical blockade, it was not until March 2019 that Chengdu Xinchen New Material Technology Co., Ltd. successfully completed the production of a 380-ton high-performance PBO device per year. The launch of production marks a breakthrough in my country’s PBO fiber industry. Our country has also become the second country in the world to mass-produce high-performance PBO fiber after Japan.

Compared with other high-performance fibers such as carbon fiber, aramid fiber, and polyimide fiber, PBO fiber has better properties in terms of tensile strength, modulus, and heat resistance. Therefore, PBO fiber appears in many usage scenarios that require high material strength. According to the“2023-2027 PBO Fiber (Polyphenylene Benzobisoxazole Fiber) Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report” released by the Industrial Research Center It shows that PBO fiber is mainly used in aerospace, national defense industry, bridges and tunnels, firefighting equipment, competitive sports equipment and other fields. In 2022, the domestic demand for PBO fiber will be close to 1,000 tons.

There are obvious market barriers in the PBO fiber industry. For new entrants, profits may not be achieved in the short term after the project is completed and put into production. At the same time, the PBO fiber production process involves multiple core technical links. Each technical link requires corresponding equipment and infrastructure support, which requires a large amount of capital investment. The industry characteristics of high investment and high technical threshold make PBO fiber production companies in the world and China highly concentrated, presenting an oligopoly production capacity distribution pattern. In addition, the scale effect of the PBO fiber industry is more obvious. The larger the enterprise, the easier it is to reduce its production costs and the more obvious the industry’s competitive advantages are. Therefore, investors investing in the PBO fiber industry must not only master a relatively complete production technology system and process flow, but also have strong financial strength.

Based on this, Industrial researchers said that companies need to invest a lot of money in purchasing related equipment, carrying out technology research and development, etc., simply relying on It is difficult for an enterprise’s internal strength to support long-term high-level capital investment, which may limit the company’s long-term development. At present, our country is building a multi-level capital market. The launch of the New Third Board, the Science and Technology Innovation Board and the establishment of the Beijing Stock Exchange have provided convenience for the listing and financing of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises. PBO fiber companies can appropriately leverage the capital market. Companies with the ability and opportunities can actively strive for listing, or relieve financial pressure through mergers and acquisitions.