Supply and demand status of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) in China in 2022

Overview of sodium hexametaphosphate industry

Phosphates are mainly divided into feed-grade calcium phosphate and industrial phosphate, of which industrial phosphate is widely used in the food processing industry. According to anions, it can be divided into orthophosphate and polyphosphate. The widely used polyphosphates include sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium pyrophosphate and sodium hexametaphosphate. Sodium hexametaphosphate can be used as food quality improver, pH regulator, metal ion chelating agent, adhesive and expansion agent in food industry; It is widely used in washing and water treatment, metallurgy, metal corrosion prevention, mineral processing, fiber and other fields in industry.

Sodium hexametaphosphate belongs to phosphate

2. Preparation process

At present, the preparation methods of sodium hexametaphosphate are mainly divided into two-step method and one-step method. The sodium dihydrogen phosphate method has the advantages of easy control, large production capacity and low labor intensity. Because the materials are transported in closed reactors and pipelines, the labor environment and sanitary conditions are good. While the one-step method has few procedures, but the control is complex, and the product quality cannot be guaranteed.

Export policy of sodium hexametaphosphate

As the overall domestic demand for sodium hexametaphosphate shrank significantly, the importance of the continued increase in the proportion of exports continued to grow. On March 16, 2020, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Announcement on Improving the Export Rebate Rate of Some Products (No. 15, 2020), which to some extent promoted the export of sodium hexametaphosphate in China.

Market supply and demand of sodium hexametaphosphate

1. Sodium hexametaphosphate capacity, output and operating rate

In recent years, China's overall capacity operating rate of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) is relatively low, and the overall output is also showing a downward trend under the background of continuous decline in capacity. The data shows that in 2021, the capacity and output of China's sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) will be 319000 tons and 152000 tons respectively, and the annual operating utilization rate is only about 46%.

The production of sodium hexametaphosphate tends to decline, mainly due to the high pressure of environmental protection. On the one hand, the production of some domestic units is limited, and long-term shutdown is required. On the other hand, the demand of downstream industries is reduced. In addition, the supply of low-end goods disturbs the market, and the sales pressure of high-end products is high, and the production volume decreases accordingly.

2. Distribution of provinces and cities

In terms of the overall provincial and municipal distribution of sodium hexametaphosphate in China, the supply side has been declining year by year in the past five years. However, due to the rich phosphate resources and complete upstream supporting facilities in the southwest of China, the domestic sodium hexametaphosphate and other sodium phosphate production capacity is mainly distributed in this region, with Sichuan and Chongqing as the main production provinces, and the central Hubei Province also has a high proportion of production capacity.

Sodium hexametaphosphate industry chain

1. Industrial chain

From the perspective of China's sodium hexametaphosphate industry chain, the upstream of sodium hexametaphosphate is mainly raw materials and equipment, among which phosphoric acid as raw material of yellow phosphorus and sodium dihydrogen phosphate has a great impact on the overall sodium hexametaphosphate, and the equipment includes alumina and melting furnace; The main production enterprises of sodium hexametaphosphate in the middle reaches are scattered in China, including Sichuan Qixing and Xingfa Group; The main downstream chemicals include sodium monofluorophosphate, which is widely used in industry, including washing and water treatment, metallurgy, corrosion prevention, fiber and paper making, and the food industry is mainly used as food quality improver.

2. Upstream end

The overall quality of sodium dihydrogen phosphate is relatively stable, and it is one of the current mainstream production processes of sodium hexametaphosphate. Phosphoric acid is the main upstream raw material, and the overall price has a great impact on sodium hexametaphosphate. The basic preparation process is phosphoric acid -->sodium sulfide -->red phosphorus -->yellow phosphorus -->sodium dihydrogen phosphate. The overall price of phosphoric acid will be stable in 2020, and the price of Q3 phosphoric acid in 2021 will increase rapidly and greatly due to the cost of raw materials. Short-term inventory shortage will lead to a high price of nearly 20000 yuan/ton, With the improvement of supply and demand in the market, the price has declined, but by the end of 2022, the overall price is still at a high level compared with that before the growth. Under the background of the high level of phosphoric acid, the overall cost pressure of sodium hexametaphosphate has increased, and the price has increased.

Development prospect of sodium hexametaphosphate industry

In the past, China's sodium hexametaphosphate was mainly used in industrial fields, but less in the field of food additives. The main reason is that China's standard for food-grade sodium hexametaphosphate is not perfect. In March 2021, the National Standard for Food Safety - Food Additive Sodium hexametaphosphate was officially implemented, and the future development of food-grade sodium hexametaphosphate is promising. In 2021, the average market price of sodium hexametaphosphate was 7518 yuan/ton, up 8.9% from 2020, but the overall price was still in a saturated state. In September, the price of raw materials such as phosphoric acid rose sharply, and the overall price rose, and then continued to decline in October. In 2022, the superimposed by-product raw materials continued to tighten under the background of power restriction, and the industrial grade sodium hexametaphosphate remained at a high level.