Discussion on the current status and development of edible oil bottle grade polyester in China

Abstract : The development and status quo of domestic edible oils, small packaging edible oils and bottle-grade polyesters used in edible oil packaging are discussed. It is pointed out that as the consumption of edible oil increases and the proportion of small packaged cooking oil increases, the national food With the continuous improvement of laws and regulations on the health sector, bottle-grade polyester used for domestic oil bottles will experience large growth in demand, bringing new market opportunities to bottle-grade polyester manufacturers.

Keywords: edible oil; bottle-grade polyester; status quo; development

With the improvement of people’s awareness of consumption and the pursuit of transparency and cleanliness of packaging, it is transparent, non-toxic, odorless, unbreakable, oil-resistant, oxygen barrier and UV resistant, and can protect edible oils from oxidation. Polyester (PET) bottles, which have many advantages such as long-term preservation and non-deterioration, are increasingly favored in the field of edible oil packaging. At present, about 10% of domestic edible oil is packaged in polyester bottles of 5L or less, and the annual consumption of polyester exceeds 40kt, gradually replacing HDPE and PVC, and becoming the preferred packaging material for small packaged edible oils.

The status of 1 bottle grade polyester

The international development of bottle-grade polyester began in the 1970s, but due to imperfect technology and post-processing, it could not achieve rapid development. In the 1980s, due to the continuous maturation of production technology and the large-scale production of post-processing equipment, bottle-grade polyesters made great progress. In 1990, the first domestic 12kt bottle-grade polyester production line was put into operation in Shantou Ocean, and other domestic Manufacturers (such as Yihua, Yanhua, Changzhou Huayuan, Shanghai Far East, Zhuhai Yuhua, etc.) have also developed bottle grade polyester products and invested in production. As of 1998, the domestic bottle-grade polyester capacity reached 0.2 Mt, which was basically the same as demand. After 1998, due to the Asian financial turmoil in 1997, Southeast Asia and the global economy were hit hard. Economic growth in the major industrialized countries stagnated, and China’s economic growth has achieved global attention because of its active economic policies. Companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Danone Group, Dingxin International, and United Group have all increased their investment in the Chinese market. Meanwhile, the rise of domestic beverage companies such as Wahaha, Nongfu Spring, Jianlibao, etc. has made the domestic market a bottle of polyester. Demand has increased rapidly, with an increase rate of more than 30% per year, and bottle grade polyesters have achieved extraordinary profits. From 1998 to 1999, bottle-grade polyesters maintained a price difference of 2,000 to 2,500 yuan per ton compared with fiber-grade polyesters. It is this high profit drive that domestic polyester companies have been involved in the production of bottle-grade polyester, and its production capacity has increased from 0.2 Mt in 1998 to 1.57 Mt in 2003 (see Table 1).

At the same time, due to the steady and rapid development of the domestic economy, people's consumption of beverage-related products is also increasing, which has led to a substantial increase in the demand for bottle-grade polyester. From 1996 to 2002, the supply and demand of domestic bottle-grade polyester was not in conflict. The total demand was slightly higher than the production capacity. However, in 2002, due to the new bottle-grade polyester production capacity of nearly 0.6 Mt, the supply was far greater than the demand, and the market competition changed. Extremely fierce.

2 Development and Status Quo of Edible Oil Small Packages

2.1 Consumption of Edible Oil Shows Rapid Growth

With the rapid development of the domestic economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, the rapid development of the food processing industry, catering industry, tourism industry and related industries, the demand for edible oil has also grown rapidly. In 1993, the total domestic consumption of edible oil was 7 Mt, and the average per capita was 6.87 kg. In 1998, the total consumption was 11.3 Mt, and the per capita consumption was 8.47 kg. By 2003, the annual domestic consumption of edible oil reached 13 Mt, and the per capita consumption also increased to 9 .98kg. This means that the per capita oil consumption in China has grown at a rate of 1.5kg per five years, showing a linear upward trend. However, in spite of this, the figure is still much lower than the average per capita consumption of 32kg in the United States and 20kg in Europe, and it does not even reach 2/3 of the 15kg per person in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This shows that the domestic edible oil market has great market potential and market potential.

2.2 High-speed development of small package edible oil

With the continuous improvement of the living standards of urban and rural residents, especially large and medium-sized cities, new concepts such as safety, health, health and nutrition have become more and more prominent in the development trend of edible oil consumption, making small-packaged edible oils at a high-speed development stage and consuming. The volume is growing at an average annual rate of 25%. By 2000, small packaged cooking oil accounted for 10% of the edible oil sales volume. In some large and medium-sized cities, the sales of small-packaged edible oils have reached 50% to 60% of the total edible oil sales. If calculated by 10%, the bottle-grade polyester used for small packaged edible oils reaches 40kt or more. In foreign countries, small-packaged edible oil accounts for 30% to 35% of the total edible oil market, and the market has great potential. In 2002, Shanghai “Sea Lion” edible oil introduced a variety of small packaged cooking oils for different consumption levels. This made it difficult to reverse business difficulties, resulting in a 50% year-on-year increase in its edible oil sales and capturing “half of the country’s edible oil market”. , Its production of small packaged edible oil rose from 10% to 40%.

2.3 Bottle Grade Polyester Replaces Other Materials

Before 1999, small packaging edible oils were basically packaged in HDPE and PVC. Since 1999, polyester bottles have advantages over HDPE and PVC in terms of transparency, smoothness, no odor, and hygiene. At the same time, polyester's good stretchability and strength make it less expensive and make up for the disadvantages of high prices. Recognized by major domestic edible oil production enterprises, and a large number of polyester bottles are used as packaging for small packaged edible oils. Except for some special requirements, such as Fulinmenwei A oil, the majority of small packaged edible oils use polyester bottles, which is also the status quo for a long time in the future.

2.4 Comparison of Polyester Bottle Making Equipment

In the past few years, the majority of domestic edible oil polyester bottles were produced by private enterprises. The equipment used was domestic injection molding machines and blow-molding machines, which were mostly produced manually or semi-automatically. Its one-time investment, maintenance costs, labor costs and other aspects are more provincial, but the shortcomings are miscellaneous materials, product quality is not stable, in terms of transparency, odor, health and other aspects are not satisfactory. Subsequently, domestic large oil companies such as Kerry Group (Golden Arowana) and COFCO (Fulinmen) increased investment, introduced large-scale foreign injection molding machines and blow molding machines, and adopted bottle-grade polyesters that meet the requirements. In the quality, transparency, health and other aspects have been a strong guarantee. See Table 2.

3 Status and development of bottle grade polyester for edible oil bottles

The continuous expansion of the domestic bottle-grade polyester production capacity far exceeds the speed required for domestic beverages, and the contradiction between supply and demand is increasingly prominent. However, the demand for edible oil bottle polyester has rapidly increased, and its demand season is just in the low season for the demand of other types of bottle grade polyester, and has strong seasonal demand complementarity. This provides the domestic large bottle grade polyester production enterprises The opportunity for new product development. Most of the original edible oil polyester bottles use bottle grade polyesters for producing mineral water bottles. Even a considerable number of manufacturers choose to use ultra-optical fiber grade polyesters that do not meet the national requirements for hygiene. The products have insufficient transparency and strength. The earliest development of special bottle grade PET for edible oil was Changzhou Huayuan Leidis Co., whose brand name was WB-8863. Immediately after its introduction into the market, it was approved by oil bottle manufacturers and opened and occupied the market relatively quickly. Subsequently, Yixing Chemical Fiber, Zhuhai Yuhua and other bottle-grade polyester manufacturers have also developed and launched special oil bottle materials. See Table 3.

4 Conclusion

Although major bottle-grade polyester production enterprises have developed and launched edible oil bottle special materials, there are still a considerable number of small and medium-sized oil bottle manufacturers currently adopting super-fiber grade polyester or their tackified products due to price factors. Its health index does not meet the corresponding requirements of the state. The national health supervision department also noticed this phenomenon. In 2002, a corresponding investigation was conducted on oil bottles and bottle-grade polyesters, confirming the sanitary inspection standards for oil bottles. With the continuous improvement of national laws and regulations and continuous enforcement of law enforcement, small and medium-sized oil bottle manufacturers will eventually give up the use of super-fiber-grade polyester or its viscosity-enhancing products, and use them in line with the national food hygiene laws and regulations. Bottle grade polyester. (Wen / Dou Sheng)