Industry chain situation：

(1)?Upstream industry

The main raw materials required for the production of cellulose ether include refined cotton (or wood pulp) and some common chemical solvents, such as propylene oxide, methyl chloride, liquid caustic soda, caustic soda, ethylene oxide, toluene and other auxiliary materials. The upstream industry enterprises of this industry include refined cotton, wood pulp production enterprises and some chemical enterprises. The price fluctuations of the above-mentioned main raw materials will have varying degrees of impact on the production cost and selling price of cellulose ether.

The cost of refined cotton is relatively high. Taking building material grade cellulose ether as an example, during the reporting period, the cost of refined cotton accounted for 31.74%, 28.50%, 26.59% and 26.90% of the sales cost of building material grade cellulose ether. The price fluctuation of refined cotton will affect the production cost of cellulose ether. The main raw material for the production of refined cotton is cotton linters. Cotton linters are one of the by-products in the cotton production process, mainly used to produce cotton pulp, refined cotton, nitrocellulose and other products. The use value and use of cotton linters and cotton are quite different, and its price is obviously lower than that of cotton, but it has a certain correlation with the price fluctuation of cotton. Fluctuations in the price of cotton linters affect the price of refined cotton.

The sharp fluctuations in the price of refined cotton will have different degrees of impact on the control of production costs, product pricing and profitability of enterprises in this industry. When the price of refined cotton is high and the price of wood pulp is relatively cheap, in order to reduce costs, wood pulp can be used as a substitute and supplement for refined cotton, mainly used to produce cellulose ethers with low viscosity such as pharmaceutical and food grade cellulose ethers. According to the data from the website of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2013, my country’s cotton planting area was 4.35 million hectares, and the national cotton output was 6.31 million tons. According to statistics from the China Cellulose Industry Association, in 2014, the total output of refined cotton produced by major domestic refined cotton manufacturers was 332,000 tons, and the supply of raw materials is abundant.

The main raw materials for the production of graphite chemical equipment are steel and graphite carbon. The price of steel and graphite carbon accounts for a relatively high proportion of the production cost of graphite chemical equipment. Price fluctuations of these raw materials will have a certain impact on the production cost and selling price of graphite chemical equipment.

(2)?Downstream industry of cellulose ether

As “industrial monosodium glutamate”, cellulose ether has a low proportion of cellulose ether and has a wide range of applications. The downstream industries are scattered in all walks of life in the national economy.

Normally, the downstream construction industry and real estate industry will have a certain impact on the growth rate of demand for building material grade cellulose ether. When the domestic construction industry and real estate industry are growing rapidly, the domestic market demand for building material grade cellulose ether is growing rapidly. When the growth rate of the domestic construction industry and real estate industry slows down, the growth rate of demand for building material grade cellulose ether in the domestic market will slow down, which will intensify the competition in this industry and accelerate the process of survival of the fittest among enterprises in this industry.

Since 2012, in the context of the slowdown in the domestic construction industry and real estate industry, the demand for building material grade cellulose ether in the domestic market has not fluctuated significantly. The main reasons are: 1. The overall scale of the domestic construction industry and real estate industry is large, and the total market demand is relatively large; the main consumer market of building material grade cellulose ether is gradually expanding from economically developed areas and first- and second-tier cities to the central and western regions and third-tier cities , domestic demand growth potential and space expansion; 2. The amount of cellulose ether added accounts for a low proportion of the cost of building materials. The amount used by a single customer is small, and customers are scattered, which is prone to rigid demand. The total demand in the downstream market is relatively stable; 3. The market price change is an important factor affecting the demand structure change of building material grade cellulose ether. Since 2012, the selling price of building material grade cellulose ether has dropped greatly, which has caused a large drop in the price of mid-to-high-end products, attracting more customers to purchase and choose , increasing the demand for mid-to-high-end products, and squeezing the market demand and price space for ordinary models.

The degree of development of the pharmaceutical industry and the growth rate of the pharmaceutical industry will affect the demand for pharmaceutical grade cellulose ether. The improvement of people’s living standards and the developed food industry are conducive to driving the market demand for food-grade cellulose ether.

The development trend of cellulose ether

Due to the structural differences in market demand for cellulose ether, companies with different strengths and weaknesses can coexist. In view of the obvious structural differentiation of market demand, domestic cellulose ether manufacturers have adopted differentiated competitive strategies based on their own strengths, and at the same time, they have to grasp the development trend and direction of the market well.

(1)?Ensuring the stability of product quality will still be the core competition point of cellulose ether enterprises

Cellulose ether accounts for a small proportion of the production costs of most downstream enterprises in this industry, but it has a great impact on product quality. Mid-to-high-end customer groups must go through formula experiments before using a certain brand of cellulose ether. After forming a stable formula, it is usually not easy to replace other brands of products, and at the same time, higher requirements are placed on the quality stability of cellulose ether. This phenomenon is more prominent in high-end fields such as large-scale building material manufacturers at home and abroad, pharmaceutical excipients, food additives, and PVC. In order to improve the competitiveness of products, manufacturers must ensure that the quality and stability of different batches of cellulose ether they supply can be maintained for a long time, so as to form a better market reputation.

(2)?Improving the level of product application technology is the development direction of domestic cellulose ether enterprises

With the increasingly mature production technology of cellulose ether, a higher level of application technology is conducive to the improvement of comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises and the formation of stable customer relationships. Well-known cellulose ether companies in developed countries mainly adopt the competitive strategy of “facing large-scale high-end customers + developing downstream uses and usages” to develop cellulose ether uses and usage formulas, and configure a series of products according to different subdivided application fields to facilitate customers’ use, and to cultivate downstream market demand. The competition of cellulose ether enterprises in developed countries has gone from product entry to competition in the field of application technology.