EAA (ethylene acrylic acid copolymer) has a wide range of applications. my country’s demand is completely dependent on imports.

There are a wide variety of ethylene acrylic copolymers, including EEA, EAA, EBA, EMA, EMMA, etc. EAA stands for ethylene acrylic acid copolymer, which is a polymer with thermoplasticity and extremely high adhesiveness. EAA appears as milky white translucent or transparent solid particles. It has the characteristics of easy processing, good adhesion and flexibility. It is widely used in degradable plastics, hot melt adhesives, packaging materials, anti-corrosion materials, water-based solvents, batteries and other fields. .

The EAA industry has high technical barriers, and its main preparation methods include free radical polymerization, coordination-insertion polymerization, etc. The free radical polymerization method uses ice crystal grade acrylic acid and ethylene as the main raw materials. Under high temperature and ultra-high pressure conditions, the acrylic acid monomer is introduced into the polyolefin chain and EAA is produced after full reaction. This method has high operating costs; coordination-insertion polymerization This method is still in the laboratory research and development stage. This method has high requirements on catalysts and has not yet achieved industrial production.

EAA has a wide range of applications, with mid-to-high-end composite flexible packaging materials as its main demand side. In 2022, my country’s demand for EAA for mid- to high-end composite flexible packaging materials will reach nearly 30,000 tons. In the future, with in-depth research and technological advancement, the application scope of EAA will be further expanded. Benefiting from the increasingly strong market demand, the development space of my country’s EAA industry continues to expand. According to the “2023-2028 China EAA (ethylene acrylic acid copolymer) industry market in-depth research and development prospect forecast report》shows that my country’s EAA market size will reach 750 million yuan in 2022.

Competition in the global EAA market is fierce, and industry concentration is high. Leading companies are mainly concentrated in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, including INEOS (UK), DuPont (DuPont), Dow Chemical (DOW), and the United States. Exxon Mobil, Japan’s Mitsui Group, South Korea’s SK Group, etc. DuPont is the world’s largest EAA manufacturer. The company has both EAA and EMMA production capabilities. Its annual EAA production capacity reaches nearly 80,000 tons, accounting for nearly 30% of the world’s total production capacity.

At present, EAA production technology is monopolized by leading overseas companies. Our country does not have large-scale production capabilities and its products are completely dependent on imports. In recent years, Chinese companies have continuously increased their investment in R&D of EAA and actively cooperated with overseas advantageous companies. my country’s EAA market is expected to achieve import substitution. In August 2022, my country Satellite Chemical Co., Ltd. and South Korea’s SK Group signed a joint venture agreement to jointly build my country’s first ethylene acrylic acid copolymer device. In the future, the annual EAA production capacity of the device will reach 40,000 tons.

Industry analysts said that EAA, as an ethylene acrylic copolymer, has the characteristics of easy processing, good adhesion, and good flexibility. Characteristics, the demand is strong in the field of mid-to-high-end composite flexible packaging materials. At present, due to factors such as high technical barriers and high production costs, my country’s EAA is completely dependent on imports. In the future, as the technological level of local enterprises improves, my country’s EAA import substitution process will accelerate.