Big Companies Take Frequent Actions, Accelerating the Restructuring of the Phthalocyanine Pigment Industry

Recently, the market for plastic-grade phthalocyanine blue and phthalocyanine green has been affected by rising upstream raw material prices and the normalization of regional environmental controls. Overall spot supply has remained tight, and product prices have been steadily increasing. Leading domestic companies continue to advance capacity expansion, process upgrades, and high-end product development, while international chemical giants are also increasing their investment in localized production and downstream application cooperation, further raising industry concentration.

I. Domestic Leaders: Expanding Production and Developing New Products to Further Tap the Potential of the Local Market

Domestic leading enterprises are operating steadily, with orderly capacity release and the pace of new projects landing. Shuangle Co., as a core enterprise in the phthalocyanine pigment sector, has its 8,000-ton intelligent production line at the Taixing base currently operating at full capacity. The high-end model PB15:6 phthalocyanine blue has achieved mass production, mainly supporting high-end plastic products, electronic inks, and other fields. Meanwhile, the company’s 800 million yuan convertible bond project is progressing steadily, focusing on the expansion of high-performance phthalocyanine green capacity. Currently, there is a sufficient order backlog, and product prices remain firm.

Zhejiang Longsheng has built a cost advantage by leveraging its complete industrial chain and currently holds about 28% of the domestic market. The company’s Phase II highly dispersed nano pigment production line in Ningbo officially began operation in the second quarter, with products targeting the high-end plastics and masterbatch markets. Its overseas expansion is also accelerating: the environmental impact assessment for its 15,000-ton phthalocyanine pigment production base in Saudi Arabia is expected to be completed within the year, enabling the company to avoid foreign trade compliance costs through its overseas presence.

Jinji Co.’s Taixing 50,000-ton pigment project is maintaining full production at the Phase I 20,000-ton phthalocyanine blue facility. This year, the company’s halogen-free PB15:3 phthalocyanine blue capacity will be expanded to 28,000 tons. The application fields of its products continue to broaden; it has now entered the OLED encapsulation materials supply chain and is also conducting technical cooperation with BOE to jointly develop new pigment nano-dispersion technologies, making a push into the high-end electronic materials sector.

Shenyang Chemical has been deeply committed to technological innovation and, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has carried out pilot-scale testing of a green synthesis process for phthalocyanine pigments. Once implemented, this process can reduce raw material costs by 19.3%. In addition, the company is developing new phthalocyanine-graphene composite pigments, focusing on high-end engineering plastics and advanced manufacturing to enrich its product portfolio.

In Shandong, the key production enterprises Hongrun Chemical and Caizhiyuan have low spot inventory levels, and the shipping pace is tight. Both companies focus on high-temperature, halogen-free plastic-grade phthalocyanine products, which can withstand temperatures up to 260°C, prioritizing supply for customers in the masterbatch and injection molding industries. Market prices remain high.

II. International Giants: Accelerating Localization and Securing High-Quality Downstream Customers

International chemical giants continue to deepen their presence in the domestic market, accelerating local production capacity and application deployment. BASF has launched the UltraDispersion™ PB15:3-XR series of phthalocyanine blue pigments, which are now being used in bulk in plastic components of Gree appliances. At the same time, the company has completed the acquisition of a 60% stake in a Zhejiang-based dispersant company, further improving its pigment support portfolio and strengthening its share of the domestic plastics pigment market.

Clariant’s Tianjin nanoscale pigment production line was put into operation in the second quarter, with product particle size controlled within 85 nm. Thanks to its excellent performance, it secured a pre-procurement order from Huawei for LCP engineering plastics, and its Clariant-Green series phthalocyanine green has also become a mainstream choice for low-VOC formulations among several automotive manufacturers.

III. Industry Analysis: Resilient Market Conditions, with the Leading-Player Effect Continuing to Stand Out