The Current Situation and Development Trend of China's Special Protective Clothing Market

At the 2017 Special Protective Clothing Summit Forum held today, on behalf of the China National Association of Textile Products Safety and Health Protective Products, I presented to the forum the current status and development trend of China's special protective clothing market.

First, I will introduce the situation of the China National Association of Textile Products Safety and Health Protection Products Committee. China Textile Business Association’s Safety and Health Protection Products Committee is a national social organization approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. As a nationwide safety and health protection products industry association, it is striving to play industry coordination, industrial development, self-discipline management, commodity exchange, and market research. The role of bridges and bonds in communicating business with the government. At present, there are more than 1,000 member companies in all provinces and cities across the country. Each year, we hold the largest national labor protection products trade fair in China. There are expert committees to organize enterprises to establish group standards and product appraisals. Conduct industry surveys, publish market development trend reports on safety products such as safety helmets, safety shoes, protective work wear, protective gloves, and smothering protective articles. Organize an annual entrepreneur entrepreneurial salon event to discuss important issues in the industry and organize tours abroad. , Visit the famous international security exhibition. The industry summit forum was held from time to time, and we held industry development summit forums for protective gloves, safety shoes, and smothering protection products. Through forum activities, the product industry chain was established to promote the orderly and healthy development of China's labor protection supplies. The work of the association has been supported and assisted by member companies and all parties. I hope that with everyone's support and concern, we will work hard to make the association work well and better serve the industry.

According to the association's investigation and understanding of the special protective clothing market, the current situation and development trend of China's special protective clothing market are introduced to today's forum.

First, the basic situation of China's special protective clothing market.

Labor protective clothing refers to the clothing that can protect the wearer from being exposed to certain hazardous materials, dangerous elements, dangerous events, and dangerous processes in life or workplaces.

Protective clothing according to its use and protective performance is divided into ordinary protective clothing and special protective clothing two categories.

Ordinary protective clothing refers to clothing that can prevent general minor injuries and dirt from being worn or that can reflect corporate image. In China, it is customary to call work clothes or business wear (logos).

Special protective clothing refers to clothing that is used to protect workplaces, products, or the environment from the pollution and harm caused by humans and clothing that is used to protect workers from harm or harm and that has certain protective functions. According to the protection function, special protective clothing can be divided into: 1. Flame-retardant clothing; 2. Acid and alkali chemicals protective clothing; 3. Anti-static clothing; 4. Welding protective clothing; 5. Oil-proof clothing; 6. Waterproof clothing; 7, live working shielding clothes; 8, X-ray protective clothing; 9, microwave radiation protective clothing; 10, forest fire protection clothing;

Protective clothing is one of the most widely used and most used protective articles in various types of protective articles. There is a wide range of markets both internationally and domestically. According to relevant statistical data, in the total demand for labor protection products in China, the demand for protective clothing accounts for about 25% of the total. The data shows that protective clothing has a wide range of needs in the country.

According to statistics, the total number of employees in China is about 250 million people. The annual demand for various kinds of protective clothing is about 180 million sets. According to the average unit price of 80 yuan per set, the total amount is about 15 billion yuan. The annual demand for special protective clothing accounts for about 35% of all protective clothing, which is about 63 million sets. Among them, anti-static consumption is the largest, accounting for about 40% of the annual demand for special protective clothing, which is about 25 million sets; followed by acid and alkali chemical protective clothing, and the annual demand is 35 percent of the total demand for special protective clothing. About 20% or so, about 22 million sets; annual demand for flame-retardant clothing is about 20% of the total demand for special protective clothing, which is about 13 million sets; the amount is less is anti-static wool knitwear, the annual demand is about About 500,000 sets.

China is a market with a large demand for special protective clothing, and it is also a country with a large number of special protective clothing. According to incomplete statistics, China has obtained national industrial product production licenses, and there are nearly 200 companies that can manufacture flame-retardant clothing, acid and alkali chemical protective clothing, anti-static clothing and anti-static wool knitwear. Provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Special protective clothing manufacturers can basically meet the needs of the domestic special protective clothing market.

China's protective clothing market, following the development of China's market economy and the policy of opening up, especially in the late 1990s, a group of famous foreign companies in the field of security protection represented by DuPont, etc., entered China. Bringing special fiber materials such as Nomex NOMEX and Kevlar to promote and enhance the development of China's special protective clothing market. With the extensive application of sulfone fibers developed and produced in China, the market variety and quality of special protective clothing are further enriched and improved. The use of new materials and new fibers has gradually narrowed the gap between China's special protective clothing and international protective clothing. The special protective clothing made of domestic fibers has been applied in China's aerospace and other areas, and has been well evaluated for use. These examples fully prove that China's special protective clothing market has experienced rapid development after undergoing various kinds of training. .

In 1988, China began to formulate mandatory national standards for special protective clothing. In 1988 and 1989, it successively formulated GB8965-88 "flame-retardant protective clothing", GB12012-89 "anti-acid overalls", and GB12014-89 "anti-static overalls". . After several amendments, China has established a series of special protective clothing standards, specifically: GB8965.1-2009 "protective clothing flame retardant protection Part 1: flame retardant clothing", GB8965.2-2009 "protective clothing flame retardant protection Part 2 : Welding Clothing, GB12014-2009 "Anti-static Clothing", GB/T23464-2009 "protective clothing anti-static wool knitwear", GB 24540-2009 "protective clothing acid-base chemicals protective clothing" and so on. These standards cover the quality testing methods and specific quality standards for special protective clothing, and promote the quality of special protective clothing in China, strengthen the market supervision of special protective clothing, and realize the standards of China's special protective clothing in line with international standards. significance.

China's protective clothing, especially the special protective clothing industry, is a developing sunrise industry. With the continuous development of China’s market economy, the country’s increasing emphasis on safe production and environmental protection, and the improvement of people’s cultural quality and safety awareness, the demand for various kinds of special protective clothing will increase, and the demand for special protective clothing will increase. The requirements for variety, quality, style and color will be higher and higher. This also provides opportunities for the development of special protective clothing industries.

Second, the special protective clothing market environment and the impact of development issues.

We believe that China's special protective clothing is still in the period of market development. We should be soberly aware that China's special protective clothing industry is still a weak industry in China, especially in the material research of special protective clothing is still quite backward. Although there are a large number of domestic protective clothing manufacturers, they are still dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. Most companies have small production scales and do not have strong brand influence. Although the number of products produced is quite large, most of the products have a single function and their technological content. Not high, homogenization is serious, and there is a big gap compared with international brands. The current market conditions and developments that affect special protective clothing have the following problems.

1. National economic adjustment has a significant impact on the development of the industry

In recent years, due to the adjustment of China’s economic development model, some industrial enterprises such as steel, shipbuilding, manufacturing, and export processing companies have suffered direct losses due to market downturns, such as production cuts, operating losses, staff cuts, and labor force declines. Downstream demand for protective clothing has shrunk, which has, to some extent, constrained the development of China's special protective clothing industry.

2. Lack of large-scale leading enterprises in manufacturing, and low industry concentration

In China, there are many companies that can produce general labor and clothing, and there are fewer enterprises that can produce special protective clothing; there are more family-based production companies, and there are fewer leading enterprises with larger production scales; There are more companies serving, and fewer companies have R&D and innovation capabilities. Due to the small scale of production of most enterprises and the lack of large-scale leading enterprises, the concentration of special protective clothing industry is relatively low.

3, lack of technological development capabilities, resulting in product homogenization

Many special protective clothing manufacturers in the market competition, using low prices as a means of competition, so that the operating profits of enterprises to reduce, unable to develop new products, so that companies fall into the product homogenization, cost transparency, the market price of low Price disorderly competition. This disorderly competition affects both the normal development of the special protective clothing market and the normal business activities of some enterprises.

4. The rise in various costs has forced companies to shift their production bases

In recent years, with the increase in labor costs and the increase in the production environment of enterprises, many special protective clothing manufacturers have shifted their production bases from coastal cities to inland cities, and some have shifted from cities to rural areas in order to reduce costs. Many specialized protective clothing manufacturing companies lack skilled workers and affect the normal production of enterprises. They have to adopt outward processing and other forms of production. As a result, lack of supervision of garment processing procedures and the unpredictability of product quality have made it impossible to improve the quality of special protective clothing. development of.

5, low technical content of products, weak product R & D capabilities

Most of the manufacturers of special protective clothing in China are purchasing raw materials for various kinds of special protective clothing. Therefore, their protective performance can only be determined based on the testing data provided by textile fabric companies. Some companies’ technological innovations or applied patents are merely utility models, not the functional research and development of fabrics.

6. Domestic brands and imported brands still have obvious gaps in product quality and protective performance.

The internationally recognized safety protection products companies that enter the Chinese market, such as special protective clothing developed and manufactured by foreign companies such as DuPont and Reckland, pay more attention to the development of protective functions. Some protective clothing is not only lightweight, it is breathable and soft, it can be dust-proof, corrosion-proof, liquid-proof, and radiation-proof, so it has a wide range of application. In recent years, there have been advancements in the development of protective functions and the design of clothing styles in domestic-made special protective clothing. However, the gap is still very obvious. In particular, it is necessary to speed up the development of the protective function of special protective clothing fabrics and narrow the industrial gap with developed countries. . At the same time, it also hopes to continuously improve and improve the national standards for special protective clothing, and adopt the revision of standards to increase the overall level of domestic special protective clothing.

Third, the development trend of special protective clothing market

With the continued development of the Chinese economy, the party and the government are paying more attention to safety production and environmental protection, and the workers’ awareness of occupational safety and self-protection will increase the demand for safety protection products. The quality, style, protective performance and comfort requirements of the products are getting higher and higher. At the same time, with the gradual recovery of the world economy, China’s foreign trade has gradually improved, which provides good opportunities for the development of China’s labor protection products industry. Therefore, China's labor protection product industry is a sunrise industry with good development prospects. During China's "13th Five-Year Plan" economic development plan, there will be a relatively rapid development opportunity. Special protective clothing, like other protective equipment, will also grow at a rate of around 10 to 15% per year. This is a fairly large market and requires companies and industries to jointly nurture development. We must not only become a major producer of special protective clothing, but also become a strong manufacturing country for special protective clothing. Not only does it need to be made in China, but it also needs to be created in China. It is hoped that under the support of various parties, China's special protective clothing industry and market can develop from the following aspects:

1. The market for special protective clothing will gradually recover with the development of China's domestic economy

With the development of domestic economic trends, the number of laborers will continue to increase, and the market demand will increase rapidly. In particular, the main consumer groups of special protective clothing, such as chemical industry and IT industry, will continue to grow steadily, steel, shipbuilding, and machinery manufacturing. And other industries are gradually coming out of the trough, which will provide a good development prospect for the development of special protective clothing. It is generally predicted that special protective clothing will grow at a rate of about 10 to 15% per year, and some companies expect the increase to exceed 20%.

2. The direction of industrial development of special protective clothing must constantly increase the degree of industrial concentration

Through strong alliances and cooperation and win-win cooperation, we shall gradually develop a regional, leading-edge enterprise with production scale special protective clothing production and operation to the development of large-scale production, so as to improve the enterprise's technological R&D innovation capability, market competitiveness, and strengthen the enterprise. Brand awareness, forming a marketing network.

3. The establishment of an industrial technology alliance is the best way to accelerate the development of special protective clothing industry

Through the establishment of a special protective clothing industry technology alliance, through the cooperation with the professional team of universities to form a technology alliance of production, study and research, to promote the production of special protective clothing fabrics, garment processing companies, marketing companies in new technology development, new product information exchange The market promotion of new varieties, etc. have been improved, so as to further increase the technical content of domestic special protective clothing, so as to achieve the joint development goal of R&D, production and sales.

4, special protective clothing with high technological content will continue to lead the protective clothing market

International protective clothing and protective fibers such as NOMEX flame-retardant fabrics and PROTERA anti-arc fabrics from the United States DuPont Co., Inc., and Reckland Co., Ltd., which have flame retardant, heat-insulating, or protection against molten metal splashing. Used by the market. Protective clothing made of functional fibers will become the mainstream of development because it will not affect the protective performance after repeated first refinement. After finishing the special protective clothing, it will continue to be welcomed by the market

5, marketing of special protective clothing will continue the model of direct sales and agency coexistence

The marketing model of special protective clothing will continue to be sold directly to end users and sold through commercial channels. However, the share of sales channels through commercial circulation will increase. The special protective clothing manufacturing enterprises should constantly adjust the marketing model in the marketing process according to changes in the market consumer groups, but such adjustments should maintain the normal market competition order and not harm the interests of other enterprises and users.

6. Strengthening cooperation with international brands is a win-win move to enhance the cooperation of Chinese national brands and quality.

With the recovery of the international economy, the export volume of protective clothing produced in China will increase with the economic recovery. Through cooperation with international brands, whether it is purchasing its advanced fabrics or processing garments, it will improve the company's quality management, marketing, user guidance and other aspects, so that enterprises can further develop.

7. Actively participate in the national standard system (repair) work for special protective clothing

Special protective clothing enterprises must continuously implement existing national standards and combine the requirements of international standards, put forward new inspection and testing requirements, continuously improve and supplement existing standards and submit proposals for special protective clothing that have not yet been listed. Formulate group standards according to the national standardization reform program.

8, strengthen the supervision of special protective clothing market, ban and crack the flow of unlicensed products into the market

Special protective clothing production and operation enterprises shall make full use of legal weapons and report illegal sales of unlicensed enterprise products to the competent government departments. Industry associations will, through various forms, report their appeals to the competent government departments and create an orderly special protective clothing market for the company.