LCPs were first commercialized in 1980s. Currently, the major players into manufacturing of neat LCP resins are: Polyplastics, Ticona, Toray, Solvay, Sumitomo and Ueno. Polyplastics is identified to be the largest producer with a manufacturing facility in Fuji, Japan. LCP resins manufacturing facilities are largely restricted to Japan, China and USA. The global demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.0 - 5.2% in the next 5-6 years.
In 2023, Asia-Pacific was estimated to be the largest consumer accounting for over 75% of the global LCP demand. China accounted for the major LCP demand with strong demand from its electrical & electronics industry. Other Asian countries including Taiwan, Japan, India, Singapore and South Korea account for a decent share of global demand.
Europe currently accounts for around 10% of global semiconductor sales. However, Europe is planning to increase its share of semiconductor production from 10% to 30% in the span of 10 years. To support this objective, the European Union has implemented the EU Chips Act, which aims to increase semiconductor chip production in the EU. The act seeks to attract private investments of more than €43 billion to bolster the semiconductor industry in Europe by providing manufacturing tools and establishing connections between European R&D facilities and manufacturing infrastructure. With these targets and initiatives in place, the LCP demand in Europe s electrical and electronic industries is expected to experience strong growth in the coming years.
In January 2021, Celanese Corporation announced a new greenfield LCP manufacturing facility to cater the fast growing LCP demand in China. The first phase of the project is anticipated to be completed by 2024 with installed capacity of 20 kilo tons/year.
Furthermore, Polyplastics Co., Ltd has also committed to construct a new Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP) polymerization unit at its facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan with production capacity of 5 kilo tons/year, making it an integrated LCP compounds manufacturing facility. The new capacity is expected to start commercial operations by H1-2024. The company also plans to double the polymerization capacity in the long term forecast, taking the overall capacity of Polyplastics Group to 25 kilo tons per annum.
Sumitomo Chemicals has announced capacity additions in Japan where the company plans to add 30% new capacity. The company has two LCP resin manufacturing facilities, one at Ehime Plant and the other one in Osaka. Operations are expected to start by Q3-2023 which would take the company’s global LCP polymer capacity to around 11,500 tons as per Prismane Consulting’s LCP resin capacity database.
Note: all images are for illustration purposes only
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