Spandex is known as "textile monosodium glutamate". Adding about 2% to 5% of spandex in the fabric can significantly improve the performance of the fabric and increase its elasticity. The application field of spandex has expanded from clothing necklines, cuffs and socks to clothing fabrics, biomedical industries and so on. The reporter learned in an interview a few days ago that at present, the spandex industry has overcapacity and corporate profits are declining. my country's spandex industry should rely on two steps to improve product quality and product differentiation, in order to expand new markets.

Overcapacity and profit decline

In 2016, the production capacity of spandex was 698,800 tons, and the growth rate was lower than that in 2015, with an increase of about 7%. The apparent demand was about 455,000 tons, and an oversupply pattern was formed. At the same time, affected by raw materials and market demand, the market price of spandex continued to fall, with a drop of about 7% last year. Due to the extremely serious homogenization of domestic products, price competition is still one of the main strategies, and the overall profitability of the industry has declined, resulting in a decline in the overall profits of the spandex industry last year, and industry competition and corporate differentiation are intensifying.

According to Liu Jingqi, Deputy Director of the Marketing Department of Zhejiang Huafeng Spandex Co., Ltd., currently, the production capacity of spandex will continue to increase, and will enter the outbreak period at the end of 2017. With an annual growth of about 6.58%, the total output will increase to 560,000 tons. At the same time, he predicts that the production capacity that can be put into production in 2018 will increase by 33.9% compared with 2016, reaching 935,800 tons.

Liu Jingqi believes that after this round of expansion, the production of spandex tends to be more and more large-scale and centralized.

In 2015, the production capacity of enterprises with 40,000 tons and above in my country accounted for 54%. This year, it is expected to reach 63%. The industry concentration will increase. Several leading enterprises will affect the formulation of market prices. Variety competition will be more intense, and the right to speak in the low-end market price will gradually transition to downstream enterprises. In the future, it can be expected that the spandex industry will enter a stage of low profit or even a loss.

While most domestic enterprises focus on production and neglect research, the situation of weak technical force will continue for a period of time. If it cannot be effectively changed, it will inevitably face a cruel competitive environment.

Improving quality is the key

The influence factors of each operation unit in the spandex production process are many and complex. From the raw material entering the prepolymerization reaction system to the spinning shaft to obtain the product, to the end user, the molecular structure of spandex is affected by the production process conditions and environment. It may be constantly changing. If the factors affecting the spandex production process are not systematically studied, it is difficult to find the cause of product quality fluctuations, and it is impossible to fundamentally find a solution to the problem.

Zhang Bin, general manager of Lianyungang Duzhong Xinaoshen Spandex Co., Ltd., said that in recent years, the spandex market has been OK, and the expansion of production has not stopped, but domestic spandex still has the phenomenon of low price and poor quality. Sang Xiangdong, chairman of Zhengzhou COSCO Spandex Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., also said that the interests of customers are the value of the industry. At present, price competition in the industry is emerging, but reducing costs cannot be at the expense of quality, and must win the market with quality.

It is understood that the structure of the soft segment and the hard segment of the spandex molecule is the basis for determining the performance of spandex, and the addition of additives plays an auxiliary role in improving the performance of spandex. Mao Zhisen, engineer of Zhejiang Huafeng Spandex Co., Ltd. believes that in order to improve the quality and performance of spandex products, it is necessary to start from the concept of molecular structure design, conduct in-depth research on the structure of polyurethane and the mechanism of interaction between its molecular groups, and select suitable two Isocyanate, polyester or polyether polyol and chain extender are used as raw materials to prepare spandex products with excellent performance. However, there is currently a lack of systematic research on relevant basic theories in the entire industry. It is necessary to conduct more in-depth research on experimental design, reaction process conditions, molecular structure analysis, etc., so as to further clarify the influence of raw material composition, chain extender and other factors on the performance of spandex products.

In addition, Mao Zhisen mentioned that it is necessary to further study the influence of additives on spandex spinning, the effects of aging conditions, storage time, and environmental temperature and humidity of spandex spinning dope on the performance of spandex products. , it is of great significance to the production of spandex, the control of indicators and the improvement of product quality.

Product differentiation becomes the direction

In recent years, the average apparent consumption growth rate of domestic spandex has exceeded 10%, and the demand for differentiated and high-end spandex has grown significantly. With the expansion of application fields, the market demand for differentiated, functional and high value-added spandex fibers will continue to increase in the future.

Zhang Bin believes that at present, domestic differentiated products are far behind advanced foreign companies. The differentiated products of foreign advanced companies are 4,000-5,000 yuan higher than the domestic price per ton. Expanding production capacity is not a means to enhance competitiveness. Differentiation The development of spandex is the basis for improving the economic efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises. Enterprises must take new product research and development as the core of their development, firmly grasp the relationship between market supply and demand, target the market to implement product differentiation strategies, and constantly introduce new products.

According to Mao Zhisen, the fundamental way to develop differentiated spandex products is to improve the performance of spandex by adjusting the structure of the soft and hard segments and the aggregated structure of polyurethane. The development of differential spandex should start from the molecular structure of polyurethane. In addition to focusing on the main influencing factors such as soft segment, hard segment, hydrogen bond, crystallinity, and microphase separation in the molecular structure and their possible impact on product performance, It should also be considered that the different spinning process conditions will also affect the performance of the product.

In addition, the development of differentiated spandex products requires in-depth research on the relationship between the structural properties and functionality of spandex. In recent years, the characterization and analysis technology of various materials has developed rapidly, which provides a powerful analysis method for the development of spandex science and engineering technology. The use of various characterization methods to carry out research on the structural properties of spandex has important guiding significance for the development of differentiated products.