1. The overall import and export situation
Extruders are one type of plastic machinery and have their origins in the 18th century. Depending on the angle between the direction of material flow and the center line of the screw, extruders can be divided into a right-angle head and an oblique head. The screw extruder relies on the pressure and shear force generated by the rotation of the screw to fully plasticize and uniformly mix the material, then molded through the die. Plastic extruders can be classified into twin-screw extruders, single-screw extruders, less commonly seen multi-screw extruders, and screwless extruders. Extruders are widely used, mainly in the plastic and aluminum forming industry, but they also have applications in the food industry.
China is a major industrial manufacturing country. Based on recent import and export data of extruders, the number of extruders produced and exported by China far exceeds that imported. The quantity of exported extruders has increased from 52,007 units in 2018 to 117,526 units in 2021, with the export value also increasing from 574.46 million USD in 2018 to 681.54 million USD in 2021. The quantity and value of imported extruders have remained stable in China, with 1,192 units imported in 2018, which slightly increased to 1,278 units in 2021. Although the number of imports was much lower than that of exports, the import value of extruders in China was close to the export value. From January to September 2022, the number of imported extruders to China was 1,133 units, with an import value of 523.55 million USD, while the quantity of exported extruders was 104,197 units, with an export value of 559.65 million USD.
2. Breakdown of import and export
With the continuous improvement of China’s industrial manufacturing level, China has gradually become a major exporter of extruders. China’s exported extruders are mainly divided into plastic granulators and other extruders. Plastic granulators refer to machines that can turn plastic into relatively uniform particles, which can be divided into two categories: granulators and crushers. They are mainly used to process waste plastic films (industrial packaging films, agricultural films, greenhouse films, beer packs, handbags, etc.), woven bags, agricultural convenience bags, pots, buckets, beverage bottles, furniture, daily necessities, etc. They are suitable for most common waste plastics and are the most widely used and popular plastic recycling and processing machinery in the waste plastic recycling industry. From January to September 2022, the quantity of imported plastic granulators in China was 208 units, much lower than the number of other extruders. The import value of plastic granulators was 191.73 million USD, while the import value of other extruders was 331.82 million USD.
From the breakdown pattern of extruders exported from China in recent years, from January to September 2022, the number of plastic granulators exported from China was 70,283 units, while the number of other extruders exported was 33,914 units. The export value of plastic granulators was 148.14 million USD, while the export value of other extruders was 411.51 million USD.
From 2018 to 2022, the average unit price of imported extruders in China was higher for plastic granulators than other types of extruders and has shown an upward trend in recent years. From January to September 2022, the average unit price of imported plastic granulators in China was 922,000 USD per unit.
The average export price of extruders in China was much lower than the import price. In 2022, the main export product was plastic granulators, with an average export unit price of 2000 USD per unit, while the export unit price of other extruders was higher than that of plastic granulators, at 12,000 USD per unit. In recent years, the export prices of plastic granulators and other extruders have shown a downward trend.
3. Analysis of import and export patterns
Based on the import pattern of China’s extruder industry from January to September 2022, Germany, Japan, and Austria were the three most important countries for China’s extruder imports. Germany was the country with the highest import value of extruders to China, reaching 242.24 million USD, accounting for 46.27% of the total import value. Next was Japan, with an import value of 169.83 million USD, accounting for 32.44% of China’s total extruder imports. Austria ranked third, exporting extruders worth 21.79 million USD to China, accounting for 4.16% of the total import value.
The extruders exported by China are sold to many countries around the world. Vietnam was the country with the highest export value, with an export value of 71.98 million USD from January to September 2022, accounting for 13% of the total export value. India was the second largest with an export value of 46.53 million USD, accounting for 8%; and the Russian Federation was the third largest with an export value of 35.97 million USD, accounting for 6%.
In 2022, the import value of other extruders in China was higher than that of plastic granulators. Among them, the value of other extruders imported from Germany was the highest, reaching 187.902 million USD, it was the country with the highest import value of other extruders to China. Japan and South Korea followed, with import values of 64.607 million USD and 18.416 million USD, respectively.
The most exported type of extruder from China in 2022 was plastic granulators, and Vietnam was the country with the highest value of exports, reaching 20.625 million USD. The second and third countries with the highest export value of plastic granulators were the Russian Federation and Japan, with export values of 9.917 million USD and 9.404 million USD, respectively.
4. Major import and export provinces
Jiangsu Province, one of China’s major provinces for light industry, became the region with the highest import value of extruders in China from January to September 2022, far surpassing other provinces and cities, reaching 20.625 million USD. Shandong Province and Zhejiang Province ranked second and third, with import values of 9.917 million USD and 9.404 million USD, respectively.
According to the pattern of extruder exports in provinces and cities in China from January to September 2022, Jiangsu Province was the highest exporting region in terms of extruder export value, reaching 192.81 million USD. The export values of Zhejiang Province and Guangdong Province ranked second and third and were very close, with values of 86.846 million USD and 85.772 million USD, respectively.
Source from Intelligence Research Group (chyxx.com)
