my country’s polylactic acid production has gradually increased, and its dependence on foreign countries has declined.

Polylactic acid, also known as polylactide, is a polyester polymer made from lactic acid as the main raw material through polymerization. It is one of the subcategories of new biodegradable materials. Polylactic acid has the characteristics of good thermal stability and excellent solvent resistance, and can be processed in a variety of ways, such as injection blow molding, extrusion, biaxial stretching, etc. Products made of polylactic acid are not only biodegradable, but also have excellent mechanical properties, high biocompatibility and other advantages. Therefore, they are widely used in daily necessities, medical and health, industry, agriculture, food packaging and other fields.

The source of raw materials for polylactic acid is very abundant and easy to obtain. As long as natural biomass raw materials containing cellulose, hemicellulose, and starch can be used to produce polylactic acid, currently, the raw materials used in the production of polylactic acid in my country are mainly corn. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s corn output will reach 277.203 million tons in 2022, an increase of 4.6524 million tons over the previous year and a year-on-year increase of 1.70%. The increase in corn production in my country has provided sufficient raw materials for the development of the polylactic acid industry.

With the gradual implementation of my country’s “plastic restriction order” policy, biodegradable plastics are gradually replacing traditional plastics and are expected to become mainstream products in the industry. As the main raw material for the production of biodegradable plastics, polylactic acid has seen increasing market demand. In addition, polylactic acid can also be used directly as a 3D printing material. With the rapid development of the 3D printing industry, the market demand for polylactic acid has further increased. Overall, the market demand for polylactic acid is relatively huge.

According to the “Polylactic Acid Industry Development Prospects and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report 2023-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center, my country’s polylactic acid industry The lactic acid industry is in a development stage. As my country’s large-scale production facilities are gradually put into operation, the supply capacity of domestically produced polylactic acid has gradually increased, and the output has increased. In 2022, my country’s polylactic acid production will exceed 55,000 tons.

From the perspective of import and export, my country’s polylactic acid production capacity continues to expand, its dependence on foreign countries gradually decreases, and import volume has declined. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, my country’s polylactic acid imports in 2022 will be 19,600 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 22.68%. At present, my country’s main import sources of polylactic acid include the United States, Thailand, Italy, the Netherlands, etc. Among them, Thailand has become my country’s largest source of polylactic acid imports, accounting for 44.99% of the import volume; followed by the United States, accounting for 44.15% of the export volume.

Industry analysts said that foreign polylactic acid manufacturers mainly include TCP, Natureworks, Synbra, Futerro, Teijin Corporation, etc., and the domestic scale is relatively large. Large polylactic acid manufacturers mainly include Fengyuan Biotech, COFCO Technology, Danhua Technology, Hisun Raw Materials, etc. At present, foreign companies occupy most of my country’s polylactic acid market. However, with the rapid development of my country’s polylactic acid companies and the continuous advancement of production technology, the gap between domestic polylactic acid and foreign companies’ products has gradually narrowed, and the speed of domestic substitution has gradually accelerated. It is expected that in the future Achieve complete domestic substitution.