Opportunities and challenges coexist in NMP Market

NMP is the only solvent for the positive PVDF binder. NMP is toxic and carcinogenic, evaporates more energy than water, and requires solvent recovery systems in industrial applications. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop aqueous cathode slurries.

NMP products have the characteristics of high boiling point, strong polarity, low viscosity, strong solubility, non-corrosion, low toxicity, strong biodegradability, low volatility, excellent chemical stability and thermal stability.

NMP is a special chemical product, which is divided into 4 grades according to metal impurities, controlled particle size, number of particles and application scope, namely microelectronic grade, electronic grade, pharmaceutical grade and industrial grade. Among them, the microelectronic level has the highest requirements and is used for cleaning photoresist in integrated circuits and cleaning liquid crystal packaging; the electronic level can be used in new material fields such as lithium-ion batteries and aramid fiber.

NMP is a very important auxiliary material for the production of lithium ion battery electrodes. It is the most commonly used polar solvent in the front batching process of lithium ion battery. Facing the TWH era, opportunities and challenges coexist in the NMP market.

Large profit margin. Due to the rapid expansion of lithium battery enterprises, there is a huge incremental demand for NMP, but the supply of BDO raw materials is insufficient, which leads to an increase in the processing cost of synthetic NMP. Superimposed on the tight supply of overall NMP, the price of recovery and distillation NMP has increased, which has continuously improved the profits of NMP enterprises, and the sales volume, unit price and profit margin have continued to rise.

The increment is greater than the loss. Because the recovery rate of NMP is generally higher than 80%, its loss rate in the field of lithium battery is small, and most NMP can be recycled. This feature leads to the increasing stock of NMP in the lithium battery field. When the stock reaches a certain extent, it will reduce the demand for synthetic NMP, so that the supplement and consumption of NMP in the lithium battery field are equal.

However, due to the rapid expansion of the lithium battery field for a long time in the future, the incremental demand for NMP stock in the lithium battery field is much greater than the loss, resulting in the need for a large amount of supplement. However, NMP belongs to the chemical industry, with a long construction cycle, forming a market gap and promoting the high-level operation of NMP.

From the perspective of challenges, the future development of NMP will also face the risks of industrial policy restrictions, decline in potential profits and intensified market competition.