Analysis of the segmented market of China's caustic soda industry in 2023

Core data of this article: import scale and export scale

Caustic Soda can be divided into liquid and solid according to its appearance

According to the different appearance, caustic soda can be divided into liquid caustic soda and solid caustic soda. Liquid caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide solution, is a colorless and transparent liquid. According to the content of sodium hydroxide, it can be further divided into a series of products such as 30% liquid alkali, 32% liquid alkali, 42% liquid alkali, 45% liquid alkali, 50% liquid alkali, 73% solid alkali, 95% solid alkali, 96% solid alkali, 99% solid alkali, 99.5% solid alkali, etc., depending on the use of production processes. Currently, the general concentration of liquid alkali produced in the market is 30-32% or 40-42%.

The export is mainly liquid alkali, while the import is mainly solid alkali

From the perspective of export structure (in terms of amount), the export scale of solid alkali was relatively large from 2019 to 2020. Starting from 2021, the export scale of liquid alkali accounted for more than half. From January to November 2022, China's caustic soda industry mainly exported liquid caustic soda, accounting for 75.38%. From the perspective of import structure (in terms of amount), from 2018 to 2021, imports were mainly made of liquid alkali. From January to November 2022, solid alkali surpassed liquid alkali and became the category with a larger import scale in China's caustic soda industry.

The export of solid alkali and caustic soda fluctuates greatly, and the overall trend of solid alkali is decreasing

From the perspective of import and export quantity, the total export volume of solid alkali shows a fluctuating downward trend, reaching 389100 tons in 2021; The total export volume of liquid alkali fluctuates greatly, reaching 593900 tons in 2021. In terms of imports, the total imports of solid alkali and liquid alkali are relatively low, with overall fluctuations.