China’s EVA supply gap is large, policies promote rapid growth in demand for EVA for photovoltaics

Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) is a general-purpose polymer with a molecular formula of (C2H4)x.(C4H6O2)y. Generally, the vinyl acetate (VA) content is 5% to 40%. Compared with polyethylene, EVA introduces vinyl acetate monomer into the molecular chain, thereby reducing high crystallinity and improving flexibility, impact resistance, filler compatibility and heat sealing performance. It is widely used in footwear and Foam, packaging, agriculture, photovoltaics, pharmaceuticals and other fields.

In recent years, with the development and continuous attention of the photovoltaic industry, the application of EVA in the photovoltaic field has developed rapidly. In the field of photovoltaics, EVA film can be used between tempered glass panels and solar cells to encapsulate and protect the cells. At present, EVA for photovoltaics has become the main downstream application field of EVA resin with the development of the domestic photovoltaic industry in recent years.

Industrial Research Center released “China Ethylene 2021-2025 – Vinyl Acetate Copolymer (EVA) Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report shows that EVA is a multifunctional, recyclable, sustainable and durable material, so it is It is becoming more and more popular in multiple industrial applications. At the same time, as countries around the world continue to increase the scale of new energy production such as photovoltaic power generation in recent years, the global demand for EVA materials continues to grow. The global EVA market size has reached 60 billion yuan in 2020, of which The Asia-Pacific region has concentrated shoemaking, pharmaceutical and photovoltaic industry manufacturing companies, so the Asia-Pacific region is currently the world’s largest EVA demand market.

In 2021, major countries and regions around the world have formulated development plans in terms of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The photovoltaic industry, as an important environment for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, has been included in the plans of various countries. Countries around the world are actively Promoting the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry, global demand for photovoltaic EVA products is growing rapidly, but industry production capacity is obviously insufficient and product supply is tight. In the next few years, as new companies continue to join the global EVA industry and the industry market scale continues to expand, downstream demand will be met, and the tight supply of the industry will be alleviated. However, driven by the rapid growth of photovoltaic industry demand, the global EVA industry market The scale will continue to grow, and it is expected that the global EVA market will exceed 80 billion yuan in 2025.

As a major global energy consumer and carbon emitter, China has formulated a large number of policies and measures to support the development of the photovoltaic industry to achieve the goal of peak carbon neutrality: On September 22, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “On the Complete, Accurate and Comprehensive Implementation of the New Development Concept” Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Carbon Neutralization of Carbon Peaks”; On October 20, the National Energy Administration issued a notice requiring all power grid companies to take effective measures for wind power and photovoltaic power generation projects that are eligible for grid connection to ensure timely grid connection; 10 On March 24, the “Double Carbon” Work Opinions issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council proposed to accelerate the optimization of building energy consumption structures and carry out rooftop photovoltaic actions.

At present, China’s downstream demand for EVA is huge but the industry’s output is limited. It still needs to import a large amount of foreign EVA products. For example, China’s annual output of EVA for photovoltaics is less than 200,000 tons, but China’s annual consumption of EVA for photovoltaics exceeds 500,000 tons. China has a large EVA supply gap. In the future, as China continues to encourage the development of the photovoltaic industry, China’s demand for EVA products for photovoltaics and EVA in other fields will further grow. The huge supply gap and import substitution demand will drive China’s EVA industry to increase investment scale and continuously improve production and technology. level.