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Wanhua Chemical Enters a New Field for the First Time with the Establishment of a New Company!

New Chemical Materials 2025-08-04 09:24:49

Recently, according to Aiqicha, Yantai Wanmei New Materials Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of 100 million yuan. Its business scope includes the sales of synthetic materials and specialized chemical products (excluding hazardous chemicals), as well as new materials technology research and development. The company's equity structure is 70% owned by Wanhua Chemical and 30% by Hefei Xinmei Materials Technology Co., Ltd.

Source: Aiqicha

New Materials

Hefei Xinmei Material Technology Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as: Xinmei New Material) was established on September 19, 2023, with a registered capital of up to 3.89 billion yuan. It was jointly founded by Nuoyan Capital, Hefei Industrial Investment Group, and state-owned assets from multiple locations including the Xinzhan High-tech Zone, Fuzhou, and Danyang. The company is mainly engaged in the business of polarizer protective films, surface treatment films, and OLED materials.

It is reported that in 2023, the company participated in the acquisition of the polarizer materials business of South Korea's LG Chem (LGC), along with all related intellectual property, equipment, and key personnel. After multiple rounds of negotiations, the transaction was finally completed in January this year. The business transferred from South Korea's LGC to New Beauty Materials is a leader in the global fields of protective films, surface treatment films, and PO materials.

After the acquisition was completed in March this year, Xinmei New Materials officially commenced the construction of the Xinmei Materials·Xinzhan Optical Functional Film Project. The total investment in this project is approximately 4.5 billion yuan. It is located in the Xinzhan High-Tech Zone in Hefei and plans to build five internationally leading intelligent display material production lines, including two precision protective film production lines, one PO production line, and two surface coating production lines. The project covers key raw materials supporting LCD/OLED polarizers and OLEDs.

After the project is completed and reaches full production, it will achieve an annual production capacity of approximately 50 million square meters for surface treatment films, about 80 million square meters for protective films, and around 20 million square meters for PO materials. This will compensate for the shortage of key upstream raw materials for polarizers in the domestic display industry and further reduce industry costs.

It is understood that Xinmei New Materials is located in the Hefei Xinzhan High-tech Zone, where a number of membrane material enterprises such as Guofeng New Materials, Lead Intelligent, Changyang Technology, Lekai Technology, Sanlipu, and Hongdao New Materials have already clustered. Meanwhile, the zone is accelerating the construction of a high-end optical film production base and a high-end manufacturing industrial park project, with a total construction area of about 400,000 square meters. This has resulted in a comprehensive and large-scale membrane industry chain with certain competitive advantages.

Optical film

Polarizing films occupy a primary position in the raw material system of liquid crystal panels, with their core composition including several key materials known as the "five films and one adhesive." In the display panel field, optical films play an indispensable role—they are the critical materials for precisely controlling the light transmittance and reflectance of various displays such as LCDs and OLEDs, and are therefore hailed as the "chips" of the optical industry. It is worth noting that these specialized materials often have very high entry barriers due to stringent requirements in technology and processes.

The optical films used in polarizers differ from others. Upstream optical materials include TAC film, optical-grade PVA film, pressure-sensitive adhesive, protective film, and release film. Among these, optical-grade PVA film is the core material of polarizers, which are key components in liquid crystal displays. The raw material cost of polarizers accounts for 80% of the total production cost, with TAC accounting for about 50% of the cost, optical-grade PVA film 12%, adhesive 5-10%, protective film and release film 15%, chemical materials 5%, and other costs 10%.

Regarding PVA optical film materials, the market has long been dominated by Japanese companies, with Kuraray occupying 70%-80% of the global market share and Mitsubishi Chemical holding 15%-20% (Mitsubishi Chemical previously acquired Japan Synthetic Chemical). Domestically, only Anhui Wanwei High-Tech and Taiwan's Chang Chun have small-scale narrow-width film supplies for the mid-to-low-end market. In early July, Anhui Wanwei High-Tech successfully delivered key core equipment for the localization of large-size polyvinyl alcohol optical films. Their production line for the 20 million square meters per year TFT polarizer PVA optical film project has a maximum width of 3400mm, with product thicknesses ranging from 20-60μm, suitable for polarizer assemblies in large-size liquid crystal displays (LCDs). It is understood that Anhui Wanwei High-Tech's PVA optical film is a domestic first.

At present, in the field of display panels and polarizers, Chinese companies already hold a leading position in global market share. However, in the upstream raw materials sector, such as optical films and OLED luminescent materials, Chinese companies still need to strive to catch up in terms of market share.

According to statistics, China's optical film market increased from 35.4 billion yuan in 2019 to 46.4 billion yuan in 2022. It is expected that the market size will reach 76.9 billion yuan by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.6% from 2022 to 2027.

The main manufacturers of optical films in China include Sanlipu, Jizhi Technology, Changyang Technology, Shuangxing New Materials, Dongcai Technology, Guofeng New Materials, and Zhongcai Technology.

Sanlipu primarily produces polarizers, optical films, and other products. Jizhi Technology focuses on the research and production of optical films, with products including diffusion films and brightness enhancement films. Changyang Technology mainly produces reflective films and optical base films, among other functional films. Shuangxing New Materials specializes in the research and production of polyester films, with products including optical films, photovoltaic films, and packaging films. Dongcai Technology primarily produces insulating materials, optical films, photovoltaic backsheet films, and other functional films. Guofeng New Materials focuses on the research and production of functional films, with products including optical films and photovoltaic films. Zhongcai Technology specializes in the research and production of functional films, with products including optical films and high-barrier films.

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Wanhua Chemical Enters a New Field for the First Time with the Establishment of a New Company!

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