Abstract:In recent years, through the continuous introduction of foreign advanced technology and the combination of independent development and innovation, China's powder metallurgy industry and technology have shown a trend of rapid development, and is one of the fastest-growing subdivisions in China's machinery general parts industry. From the perspective of the market size of powder metallurgy parts in China, as of 2022, the market size of powder metallurgy parts in China will be 17.19 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.33%.
1. Definitions and Classification
Powder metallurgy is a process technology that produces metal powders or uses metal powders (or mixtures of metal powders and non-metallic powders) as raw materials, through forming and sintering, to manufacture metal materials, composite materials and various types of products. Powder metallurgy includes milling and products. Among them, milling is mainly a metallurgical process, which is literally consistent. Powder metallurgy products, on the other hand, often go far beyond the scope of materials and metallurgy, and are often interdisciplinary (materials and metallurgy, mechanics and mechanics, etc.) technologies. In particular, modern metal powder 3D printing integrates mechanical engineering, CAD, reverse engineering technology, layered manufacturing technology, numerical control technology, material science, and laser technology, making powder metallurgy products technology a modern comprehensive technology across more disciplines. At present, powder metallurgy technology mainly includes metal powder injection molding technology, hot isostatic pressing, powder forging, powder extrusion, flow temperature pressing technology, temperature pressing technology and powder rolling.
Second, industry policies
In recent years, the state has successively promulgated a series of manufacturing incentive policies not only to strengthen the upgrading of the forging and powder metallurgy products manufacturing industry, but also to stimulate the expansion of demand in downstream industries. In December 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the "Guidance Catalogue for the First Batch of Application Demonstration of Key New Materials (2024 Edition)", which listed "alloy powder for 3D printing, high-performance titanium alloy powder for hot isostatic pressing, copper-based micro and nano powder materials, ultra-high-performance special alloys for powder metallurgy, and titanium alloy powder for injection molding" as cutting-edge materials; The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the "Classification Catalogue of Industrial Strategic Emerging Industries (2023)", which listed "automobiles - lightweight material applications - ultra-high-strength steel, high-strength and toughness low-density steel, ADI cast iron, high-strength aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, powder metallurgy, high-strength composite plastics, composite fibers and bio-matrix composite materials" as an encouraged category. The support of national industrial policy will play a positive role in promoting the development of powder metallurgy industry.
Third, the development process
As an ancient and dynamic advanced material preparation and forming technology, powder metallurgy originated from ancient ceramic preparation technology and ironmaking technology, and has made important contributions to the development of human society. In the middle of the 18th century, the rise of powder metallurgy manufacturing technology in Europe opened an era of revival of ancient powder metallurgy technology. Until 1909, the advent of powder metallurgy ductile tungsten marked the advent of the modern powder metallurgy era. With the development of technology and the improvement of product demand, the powder injection molding process appeared in the 70s of the 20th century, and the metal additive manufacturing technology was researched and developed at the end of the 90s of the 20th century, and the rapid development of powder metallurgy technology has brought great changes to the entire industry. For more than 100 years, powder metallurgy technology has flourished, and various important new materials and key products have emerged, becoming one of the indispensable engineering technologies for today's national economy and science and technology. The powder metallurgy industry in China has experienced three stages: primary, development and rapid development.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Talent barriers
The powder metallurgy process includes product development and design, manufacturing process, and use technology, all of which are indispensable. Due to the ever-changing processing objects, processing conditions and processing methods, it is necessary to continuously adjust from R&D, design, manufacturing, use and other links according to actual conditions to ensure that the use requirements are met under different processing conditions, which requires professional and technical personnel as a guarantee, while the powder metallurgy industry started late in the mainland and there is a shortage of professionals. At the same time, the variability of product application has more comprehensive requirements for technical personnel, and the cycle of talent growth is relatively long. Therefore, talent is one of the main barriers for new entrants in the powder metallurgy industry.
2. Market barriers
In China, the powder metallurgy industry is still in the development period, the information is not completely sufficient, and there are certain differences in products. Therefore, downstream customers in different industries have parts and components needs based on their own industries. In addition, due to the basic stability of the profits of the powder metallurgy industry, considering a certain replacement cost, downstream customers have generally achieved long-term and stable cooperative relations with powder metallurgy parts suppliers suitable for their own needs. In this way, it is more difficult for new entrants to obtain customer resources, which constitutes a market barrier for new entrants in the powder metallurgy industry.
3. Technical barriers
In the market economy environment where the product life cycle is shortening, product replacement is accelerating, product quality is constantly improving, resource and energy consumption is decreasing, and environmental pollution control is increasingly strengthened, the key to the long-term and rapid development of powder metallurgy parts production lies in technological innovation. In the future, the powder metallurgy industry will further develop in the direction of high density, high precision, complex shape, and improved electromagnetism, and there will be higher technical requirements for the powder metallurgy production process. This constitutes a certain technical barrier for new entrants in the powder metallurgy industry.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream raw materials of the powder metallurgy industry are iron-based powder, alloy iron powder, etc., and iron powder is the main raw material of powder metallurgy iron-based products, and it is also a high-efficiency steel in the steel product series, which has significant energy-saving effects. At present, iron powder products mainly include reduced iron powder and atomized iron powder. At present, the mainland iron powder manufacturers are mainly large iron and steel enterprises, such as Anshan Iron and Steel Group, Laiwu Iron and Steel Group, etc. With the development of the automobile industry, the mainland steel powder industry has gone through a period of rapid development for ten years, the production of steel powder has gradually moved from decentralized to centralized, and the large-scale advantages of steel powder production are emerging, providing a favorable guarantee for the powder metallurgy products industry.
At present, the downstream of powder metallurgy parts is mainly concentrated in the fields of automobiles, home appliances, construction machinery, power tools, etc., however, there are significant differences in the main application fields of powder metallurgy products at home and abroad. From the perspective of the powder metallurgy product structure in developed countries or regions, the automobile industry is the downstream demand industry of the powder metallurgy parts industry. Due to the late development of China's automobile industry, the product structure of China's powder metallurgy industry is different from that of developed countries.
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