In June 2025, the Chinese white carbon black industry will usher in a new round of development opportunities driven by both technological innovation and market demand. From the substitution of bio based raw materials to the expansion of high-end applications, and then to the optimization of production capacity layout, the industry is accelerating its transformation towards green and high-performance.
Technological breakthrough: Biobased white carbon black opens up a green tire revolution
The China Petroleum and Petrochemical Research Institute recently announced that its independently developed modified bio based white carbon black has passed the tire performance test, with excellent performance in key indicators. This product is made from rice husk and carbon dioxide as raw materials, and is prepared using in-situ green modification technology. While maintaining physical and mechanical properties comparable to traditional white carbon black, it reduces rolling resistance by 3.7%, fatigue temperature rise by 15%, and durability by 4.5%. This breakthrough not only realizes the resource utilization of rice husks and the chemical conversion of carbon dioxide, but also reduces tire energy consumption through green processes, helping to improve the range of new energy vehicles. At present, the product has entered the stage of adapting solution polymerized styrene butadiene rubber materials and is cooperating with tire companies to carry out market trials. It is expected to achieve industrial mass production within the year.
Market Expansion: Demand Growth Driven by New Energy and High end Manufacturing
Data shows that the demand for white carbon black in China will reach 1.8 million tons in 2024, with the rubber sector accounting for over 60%. The rigid demand for green tires in new energy vehicles has become the main growth point - each electric vehicle requires 5-8 kilograms of high-end white carbon black for tire and battery separator coating, driving an annual demand increase of over 100000 tons. At the same time, the application growth rate of white carbon black in high-end fields such as 5G communication and semiconductor packaging has reached 15% -20%. For example, the unit price of high-purity electronic grade white carbon black can reach 3-5 times that of ordinary products, becoming a new profit engine in the industry.
Capacity Upgrade: Regional Cluster and Intelligent Transformation Moving Forward Together
In terms of production capacity layout, the East China region relies on the foundation of the chemical industry to occupy 35% of the country's production capacity, while the South China region has achieved an annual growth rate of 18% in high-end production capacity driven by the demand for new energy industries. The 75000 ton nanoscale white carbon black production line put into operation by Fujian Sanming Afu Silicon Materials Co., Ltd. in 2023 adopts a sodium silicate combined process, achieving an output value of over 1 billion yuan. In addition, the penetration rate of intelligent manufacturing in the industry has reached 28% and is expected to exceed 60% by 2030, significantly improving product consistency.
Policy empowerment: Dual carbon targets force industrial upgrading
Many local governments are promoting industry transformation through policies such as tax incentives and green factory certification. For example, Zhejiang provides a 15% income tax reduction for enterprises that invest more than 5% in research and development; Shandong has reduced energy consumption per unit product by 12% by integrating small-scale production capacity. In this context, leading enterprises are accelerating the breakthrough of "ultra-fine particle size control technology", and products with particle size ≤ 15nm have been localized, breaking the monopoly of foreign enterprises.
Industry experts point out that with the increasing penetration rate of new energy vehicles and the demand for high-end manufacturing localization, the white carbon black industry will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%, and the market size is expected to exceed 34 billion yuan by 2025. Technological iteration and green transformation will become the core of enterprise competition, and cross-border cooperation such as CATL's investment in white carbon black enterprises to lay out lithium battery materials indicates a new trend of industrial chain integration.