The domestic high-end ion exchange resin market has a low level of localization and there is huge room for industry growth in the future.

Ion exchange resin refers to a type of polymer compound with functional groups (active groups for exchanging ions), network structure, insoluble, and spherical granular appearance. According to different types of matrix, ion exchange resins can be divided into styrenic resins and acrylic resins; according to different properties, they can be divided into cation exchange resins, anion exchange resins, and amphoteric ion exchange resins; according to different pore structures, they can be divided into Macroporous, homoporous, and gel-type ion exchange resins.

Ion exchange resin is an important type of adsorption and separation material. It can adsorb anions/cations in water, remove pollutants in water, extract and separate ions, and perform esterification and hydration reactions. It is mainly used in industrial water treatment, electronics, nuclear industry, Environmental protection, hydrometallurgy, food processing, biopharmaceuticals and other fields.

In recent years, against the background of the continuous emergence of domestic emerging industries and the rapid development of water treatment, electronics, metallurgy and other industries, the application fields of ion exchange resins have been continuously expanded and market demand has continued to increase. According to the “2023-2027 China Ion Exchange Resin Industry Market Prospects and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report” released by the Industrial Research Center, In 2021, the domestic ion exchange resin market size has reached 5.75 billion yuan. Among them, the water treatment field is currently the largest application field of ion exchange resin in my country. In 2021, the demand for ion exchange resin in this field will account for 65% of the total domestic demand.

Affected by the high technical barriers to ion exchange resin, my country’s industry started late. For a long time, the domestic market has been dominated by international leading companies that started earlier, have complete product lines, and sufficient technology and experience reserves. The main companies include Dow Chemical of the United States, Mitsubishi Chemical of Japan, Purolite of the United Kingdom, Lanxess of Germany, etc.

However, in recent years, driven by the continued growth in domestic market demand for ion exchange resins, local companies have continued to rise. With advantages such as high cost performance and short supply cycles, they have accelerated their occupation of more market shares and promoted the continuous improvement of localization levels in the domestic market. At present, the leading domestic ion exchange resin companies mainly include Zhengguang Co., Ltd., Lukang Like, Lanxiao Technology, Zibo Dongda, Jiangsu Suqing, etc. At the same time, as local ion exchange resin companies continue to increase their technological research efforts, the core product technologies of some leading companies have reached the international leading level. The market competitiveness of domestic companies is constantly improving, and the industry development trend is improving.

Industrial analysis personnel said that at present, the leading local ion exchange resin companies are mainly concentrated in the traditional industrial water treatment field, and most companies have mastered the general industry The production and application technology of water treatment resin has a high degree of localization in this field. However, in emerging application fields such as food processing, biopharmaceuticals, and hydrometallurgy, local ion exchange resin companies have low technical levels and relatively weak competitiveness. In the future, companies still need to increase technology research and development efforts, and the industry has broad room for development.