Adhesive products refer to materials that bind the objects to be bonded together through bonding action. Most synthetic adhesive materials have a history of only about a hundred years, but the adhesive product market has rapidly developed alongside the rapid growth of modern industrial applications. From a global market perspective, the U.S. adhesive market is already quite mature, Europe's development is slowing, and the Asia-Pacific region offers significant growth opportunities.
1. Market Status of China's Adhesive Products
China's adhesive industry has developed rapidly, especially after 1980, with the influx of numerous foreign and joint ventures, a wealth of advanced technologies and production equipment have continuously emerged as competitive adhesive products.
Currently, the domestic adhesive market can be divided into three tiers based on product quality. High-end brands are monopolized by internationally renowned brands, most of which have factories in China, such as 3M (USA), Henkel (Germany), Romain (Germany), Soken Chemical (Japan), Nitto Denko, BASF, Dow Corning, NavInfo (Taiwan), Asia Chemical, etc. There are also some well-known brands without factories in China, such as France's Le Vass, America's Rubber Factory, and Japan's Sekisui; The mid-range consists of leading domestic companies and companies with average international recognition. Domestic companies include: Beijing Organic Chemical, Oriental Chemical, Guangzhou Baiyun Adhesive, Ge Li Hao Group, Shunde China Resources, Xi'an Hangang, Chengdu Zhengguang Technology, and Heilongjiang Petrochemical Research Institute. Foreign companies are mainly Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese SMEs operating in China; The lower end consists of some domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, including township enterprises in Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China, mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan regions.
2. Application industries of adhesive products
Adhesive products can be classified by application industry into: adhesives for construction, adhesives for packaging, and other adhesive supplies.
1. Adhesive products for construction
This industry uses a large amount of adhesives, accounting for about 52% of total adhesive output, mainly divided into three categories: decoration, sealing, and structural. Among these three categories, the decoration industry mainly uses adhesives, accounting for over 90% of construction adhesives. The main types of adhesives used are silicone and polyurethane adhesives, each accounting for one-third. Domestic supply is limited and imports are still relying on imports; Structural adhesives have grown rapidly in recent years, with some products already being exported.
2. Adhesive products for packaging and other industries use adhesives
Currently, paper packaging has become the second largest consumer segment in China's adhesive market, accounting for about 13% of the total adhesive product market demand. The footwear industry ranks third, accounting for 9% of total demand. Other products are widely used in industries such as industry, aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, machinery, electronics and electrical appliances, textiles, chemicals, light industry, healthcare, agriculture, cultural and sports sectors, and household use. Taking the automotive industry as an example, in recent years, with the rapid development of China's automotive industry, the amount of automotive adhesive used has been increasing year by year. The most widely used adhesives are polyvinyl chloride plastic sol, asphalt primer adhesive, and neoprene adhesive. In recent years, PU adhesive and hot melt adhesive have also been widely used in the automotive industry.
3. Tape products
Tapes can be divided into three main categories: protective film series, packaging tape, and industrial tape
1. Protective film
Protective film, also known as surface protection tape, is most commonly made from PE (PE) and acrylic solvent adhesive. It comes in different viscosities and thicknesses according to different needs, and is mainly used in industries such as nameplates, LCD (liquid crystal displays), flat displays (CRT), plasma displays (PDP), plastics, electronics, PCBs, glass, furniture, and other industries to cover surfaces to prevent contamination or scratches. In recent years, PET protective films have become the new favorite in this market. The high price has not hindered the continuous growth of demand. Choosing high-quality PET substrates and PET protective films infused with functional elements is the future development direction.
2. Packaging tape
Packaging tapes include cloth-based tape, OPP tape, aluminum foil, masking paper, yellow tape, etc., mainly used for moisture-proof and waterproof product packaging and heavy cargo packaging. In the screen printing industry, it can be used to protect the adhesive around the edges of the screen frame from corrosion during screen washing and printing. In addition, stretch film and shrink film are also widely used in the packaging industry. The stretch film is lightweight, transparent, strong, and has good self-adhesiveness. It can be used for product consolidation or pallet-style packaging, providing moisture and dust protection, reducing labor, and improving efficiency, achieving both product protection and cost reduction. Shrink film is generally mainly heat-shrinkable and is suitable for packaging stationery, printed materials, audio-visual products, toys, cosmetics, electronics, household goods, and instant noodles.
3. Industrial tape
Industrial tapes mainly include double-sided tape, single-sided tape, and PCB-specific tape.
(1) Double-sided tape
Double-sided tape is actually tape coated with glue on both machines (which can be without a substrate), mainly used for fixing membrane switches, PC keyboards, nameplates, automobiles, home appliances, mobile phones, and PCB components. The market is dominated by 3M from the US and Nitto from Japan. Both have complete product systems and stable quality, but are relatively expensive. In recent years, some moderately priced, stable-quality products have entered the market, such as Japan's Sekisui, Soken Chemical, Sony, Tesa, Korea's Baoyou, NIKTO, and Taiwan's NavInfo. They have gradually captured the mid-range market with price advantages and have launched challenges to 3M and Nitto in some products. The low-end market is dominated by domestic manufacturers, with low tape prices and a limited range of product models.
(2) Single-sided tape
Opposite to double-sided tape is single-sided tape, which is coated with glue on one side of the material for fixing, sealing, shielding, labeling, and packaging products and components. Such as glass cloth tape, fiber tape, masking tape, label, and floor marking tape.
(3) PCB special tape
(1) Dust-Sticking Paper: Used for PCB pretreatment and cleaning panel dust removal.
(2) Gold Finger Tape: Protects the PCB gold finger section from corrosion during soaking in chemicals.
(3) Kaptune tape: protects the PCB gold finger section from contamination during wave soldering
4. Development Trends of the Adhesive Industry
1. The product meets environmental protection requirements
With the growing public awareness of environmental protection and the increasingly sound environmental regulations in China, safe, practical, and internationally compliant adhesive products are becoming mainstream. Many manufacturers, including 3M and Ildong, are actively implementing their environmental declarations.
2. Increased technological content
Technological innovation and performance improvement are the development directions of the adhesive industry. Manufacturers will also adjust toward higher technological content, focusing on improving the properties of various adhesive systems such as acrylic solvent-based adhesives, polyurethane adhesives, epoxy adhesives, optical and photosensitive adhesives, pressure-sensitive adhesives, and silicone adhesives.
3. Accelerated product updates and replacements
The international adhesive market is steadily developing, with faster technological innovation. The continuous emergence of new technologies and products is driving the continuous renewal of the adhesive industry, with application fields continuously expanding.
4. Competition is becoming fierce
Overall, the developed markets in Europe and America are relatively mature, while the rapidly developing Asia-Pacific region—especially China, known as the "world's factory"—has maintained economic growth rates above 8% for consecutive years. The adhesive market continues to expand, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Rising oil prices and exchange rate fluctuations have intensified competition among manufacturers for raw materials. Many large European and American adhesive companies are seeking agents, establishing offices, or directly building factories in the Asia-Pacific region. It is foreseeable that the prices of conventional adhesive products will continue to decline in the future, with profit growth concentrated in new products with higher technological content.
