The Market for Water Reducing Agents Is Broad, Good for the Industry Leader

Concrete admixtures, which are substances added before or during the mixing of concrete, can significantly improve the performance of freshly mixed concrete and hardened concrete. Concrete admixtures belong to the frontier and intersecting fields of building materials, macromolecule chemistry, and surfactant. With high technical content, they are the core materials to realize the sustainable development of the concrete industry.

High-Performance Water Reducer Becomes the Mainstream

The products of superplasticizers have undergone three generations of development, including ordinary superplasticizers, high-efficiency superplasticizers, and high-performance superplasticizers. High-performance water-reducing agent, namely polycarboxylic acid series water-reducing agent, has the advantages of low content and high water-reducing rate, which is higher than 25%, and has good fluidity maintaining ability, and can prepare high-strength, ultra-high-strength, high-durability and superfluid concrete. The synthesis process of polycarboxylic acid series water reducer has no pollution emission. Under the pressure of energy-saving, environmental protection, and safety production, polycarboxylic acid superplasticizer has rapidly replaced naphthalene superplasticizer to become the mainstream supply of superplasticizers.

Water Reducer Industry Dispersion Is High

The concrete additives industry is in the middle of the industry chain, where the upstream is the petrochemical and coal chemical industry and the downstream is the commercial concrete industry and construction industry. The concentration and volume of the upstream and downstream are higher, but the water reducer industry itself is a more dispersed capacity. The upstream production capacity of ethylene oxide and acrylic acid is highly concentrated in large state-owned enterprises. The production capacity of direct material polyether monomer of water reducer is mainly concentrated in 20 domestic manufacturers. On the other hand, the downstream of the concrete admixture industry is mainly real estate construction and infrastructure projects, the discourse power is greater. However, in the water-reducing agent industry itself, most enterprises are of compound type, with low asset input and entry barriers, and generally do not have polymerization capacity.

Cement Demand Is Good, Driving Concrete Admixture Market Development

In recent years, the state has improved the construction of infrastructure projects, including water conservancy and hydropower, high-speed railway, bridge, and nuclear power, which directly drives the development of a commercial concrete industry and construction industry, thus driving the development of a concrete additive industry. At the same time, the promotion of high-performance concrete and construction industrialization, the improvement of environmental protection requirements, promote the technical progress of the commercial concrete industry. Industry integration and scale operation become the trend that will play an essential role in promoting the orderly competition of the concrete additive industry.

Mechanism Sand Replaces the Natural Sand, Which Enhances the Admixture Demand

In recent years, the supply of natural sand has been short for a long time. According to the development target, the production capacity of super large mechanized sand and gravel enterprises with an annual output of 10 million tons or more will account for 40% by 2025.

Concrete admixtures in the industrial chain of the discourse power gradually improved. Since the admixture only accounts for 2%-3% of the concrete cost, it is crucial to improve the concrete performance. In the context of the deterioration of raw material quality, the service demand is improved and the discourse power in the industrial chain is enhanced.

Permeability of Premix and Prefabrication Increased, The Space of Additives Expanded

Bulk cement is mainly used in the use of ready-mixed concrete, accounting for 44%. In 2017, bulk cement accounted for 63% of China's cement, while bulk cement is mainly used in the production of ready-mixed concrete.

The admixture can reduce the direct cost of concrete by 15~20 yuan per cubic meter, save the amount of cement clinker and protect the urban environment. From the perspective of the construction method of concrete, ready-mixed concrete production factory and construction mechanization, relative to the construction enterprises in the construction site to the traditional way of mixing concrete, with a guarantee construction quality, to protect the urban environment, reduce cement consumption, improve construction efficiency and realize the civilization construction, and many other advantages.

China's proportion of premix concrete and developed countries than there is room for improvement. In 2008, the permeability of premixed concrete in China was only 15%, which is far behind that of 48.8% in the EU and 75% in the US. Although the permeability of premixed concrete in China has increased to 48% in 2019, there is still a large space for development.

Industry Concentration Increased, Driven by Environmental Policies

Water reducer belongs to the chemical industry, environmental protection policy to eliminate small enterprises. The pattern of the water-reducing agent industry is relatively dispersed. According to the statistics of China Concrete Network, there are nearly 2,000 water-reducing agent manufacturers in China, including a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises with inadequate environmental protection measures, and no more than 10 enterprises with sales volume of more than 100,000 tons. Since 2016, the state has issued a series of policies, focusing on requiring chemical enterprises to retreat from the city and enter the park. The industrial naphthalene and ethylene oxide in the raw materials of water reducer are dangerous chemicals, and the compounding link of water reducer also needs to use polluting solvents, so it must be produced in the industrial park according to the regulations. However, for small enterprises, the increased investment in environmental protection greatly increases the cost of their continuous operation, leading to the closure of a considerable number of small enterprises that fail to meet the standards. After three years of vigorous environmental supervision, the water reducer CR10 has increased from 30.6% in 2015 to 35.6% in 2018. Leading companies in the industry continue to seize market share by virtue of leading technologies and professional services, and the industry concentration is expected to continue to increase.

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