If one word were to describe the current liquid silicone rubber industry, it would be 'soaring ahead'. In 2023, China's liquid silicone rubber production capacity has reached 250000 tons, with a production of 130000 tons. By 2026, the production capacity is expected to climb to 280000 tons, and the output is expected to approach 190000 tons. This growth rate is impressive in the entire silicone industry, driven by the huge incremental demand released by emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, 5G electronic packaging, and high-end medical devices.
From a global perspective, the liquid silicone rubber market is also showing a strong growth trend. The global liquid rubber market is expected to reach approximately 2.24 billion US dollars by 2025 and is projected to reach 3.065 billion US dollars by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.7%. The liquid silicone rubber segment alone accounts for 27.38% of global liquid rubber sales, making it the undisputed largest variety. The Asia Pacific region is the world's largest market, accounting for about 40% of the market share, with North America and Europe ranking second and third respectively. As one of the world's most important producers and consumers, China's vast manufacturing system, especially its cluster advantages in the fields of electronics, automotive, medical, and maternal and child products, provides unparalleled application soil for liquid silicone rubber.
The rapid expansion of the market has given rise to a fierce competitive landscape. At present, core enterprises in the industry are continuously making efforts in technological innovation and product upgrading, forming a diversified product matrix represented by industrial grade, medical grade, and food grade. According to viscosity, it can be divided into low viscosity, medium viscosity, high viscosity and other types. According to usage, it can be divided into general use, high-strength use, transparent use, flame retardant use, etc. Downstream applications cover multiple terminal scenarios such as digital products, automobiles, construction industry, aerospace, and electrical insulators. The automotive industry is the largest downstream application field, accounting for 22.51%, followed closely by the machinery industry, accounting for 13.18%.
On a technical level, liquid silicone rubber is undergoing a new round of upgrades. The improvement of the vulcanization system has better balanced the contradiction between room temperature applicability and high temperature vulcanization efficiency. The extensive use of MQ type silicone rubber has solved the classic problem between fluidity and strength. The continuous improvement of crosslinking inhibitor technology and the maturity of cold runner mold technology have enabled the product yield of injection molding process (LIM) to reach over 95%. The advanced full needle valve cold runner system has been widely used in the production of precision parts such as mobile phone waterproof parts, LED lenses, medical products, etc., achieving efficient molding without burrs and waste.
However, the challenges cannot be ignored either. The fluctuation of raw material prices, rising environmental costs, and the difficulty of breaking through high-end technologies are the three major obstacles that constrain the development of some enterprises. Especially in the field of high-end medical and food grade products, some domestic demand still needs to be met by imports, and the problem of a single product structure and insufficient proportion of high-end products still exists. But overall, under the trend of "Made in China" moving towards high-end, local enterprises are accelerating their breakthrough into high-tech and high value-added fields with their ability to quickly respond to domestic market demand and cost control advantages. In the next few years, the research and development of bio based liquid silicone rubber and functional products with high temperature and corrosion resistance will become new growth engines, and new energy vehicles will be closely related
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IOTA Liquid Silicone Rubber