Zhang Jianqin

Shanxi Vocational and Technical College of Light Industry,China

Abstract

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics,the operation of China's major washing products industry in 2018 was analyzed in detail.The monthly output and economic indicators were mainly discussed.This article pointed out that China's washing products industry had entered the long-tail period of maturity.The development of the industry cannot be separated from technological innovation and product upgrading.How to create a washing products market suitable for China's consumption situation and promote the sustainable,healthy and stable development of the industry has become the focus of the industry at present.

Key words

washing products;maturity period;monthly data;output;consumer market

As a major consumer of washing products in the world,China's per capita consumption from 2017 to 2018 is about 9.5 kg,and the consumption amount is about $10 per person per year.There is a certain gap between China and other developed countries or regions in terms of consumption capacity,consumption level and consumption quality.China's consumer market has a long way to go,especially in the consumption of highquality and high-efficiency products.

As a rigid consumer product,the rapid development of China's washing products market mainly focuses on the past ten years after 2008,with the output and market scale reaching a historical peak in 2016,with enterprises above scale producing 13,380 kt in the whole year.With the transformation of the country's economic structure,the elimination mechanism of excess production capacity and the continuous promotion of the green development idea of the industry,the output of China's washing products industry began to decline slowly in 2017.In 2018,the industry experienced great fluctuations.The total output of synthetic detergents in enterprises above scale decreased to 9,286 kt,a significant decrease of 6.9% year on year.

Looking back on the 20-year development of China's washing products industry,the years of year-on-year decrease in output were only 2008 and 2018,with year-on-year decreases of 3.2% and 6.9% respectively.Combined with the low growth rate (1%) in 1999,it can be seen that China's washing products industry basically undergoes a large-scale reshuffle and industrial restructuring every ten years,which is closely related to the periodical change of the global economy.Periodical trend provides a relatively clear development direction for China's washing products industry.In the future,functional high value-added concentrated and liquid detergents will enter the current mainstream market,and the industry will begin to change from quantity-oriented to qualityoriented (Figure 1).

At present,the development of the industry has begun to enter a long-tail period after maturity.Thanks to technological progress and continuous upgrading of formulation,it is expected that this period will last for 3 to 5 years.The industry will enter a new stage of development.The production and market will be dominated by high-value-added product development and high-grade consumption.It is expected that by 2023,China's washing products industry will enter a new period of prosperity.The concentration on industry brand and the market will become more prominent.The market position and competitive structure of local and foreign brands will also undergo great changes.The market competitiveness of local enterprises will be further enhanced.Foreign brands will show their advantages in terms of high technology and innovation.

Figure 1.Annual production trend of domestic synthetic detergents in 1998-2018

Production and market

According to the data analysis from the National Bureau of Statistics,the total domestic production of synthetic detergent in enterprises above scale (with a turnover of more than 20 million yuan) reached 9,285.6 kt in 2018,a decrease of 6.93% compared with the same period in 2017.Among them,the production of liquid detergent exceeded 5,732.8 kt,accounting for 61.74%,a decrease of 7.58% compared with the same period in 2017.The total production of synthetic washing powder is 3,552.8 kt,accounting for 38.26%,a decrease of 5.86% from the same period of last year.Compared with that in 2000,liquid detergent has become the mainstream of the industry development in recent years (as shown in Table 1).In particular,liquid laundry detergent represented by liquid laundry detergent has rapidly replaced traditional synthetic washing powder as the industry development direction in the past decade.

After 20 years of development,the product structure of China's washing products industry has also undergone tremendous changes.From 2000,when synthetic detergent was the main product,to 2018,when liquid detergent was the representative of diversified product structure,the rapid development of liquid detergent promoted the industry to grow continuously.In 2000,the output ratio of synthetic washing powder was about 73%,and that of liquid washing powder was close to 25%.By 2018,the output ratio of synthetic washing powder dropped to 38%,whereas that of liquid washing powder exceeded 60%.It is estimated that the output ratio of liquid washing powder will reach 72.5% in 2020,exceeding 10,000 kt for the first time.Synthetic washing powder will gradually withdraw from the market in economically developed regions,with the annual production reduced to about 3,800 kt (As shown in Table 1).

Table 1.Statistics of main synthetic detergent products in China

Regarding regional production,the domestic synthetic detergent output in 2018 was mainly concentrated in Guangdong,Sichuan,Anhui,Zhejiang,and Tianjin,with the output of 2,741.7 kt,913.1 kt,908.1 kt,892.2 kt,and 630.2 kt respectively,accounting for 29.53%,9.83%,9.78%,9.61% and 6.79% of the total yearly output respectively,the top five provinces and cities of which exceeded 65.5% (as shown in Figure 2).

Figure 2.Statistics of main output data of synthetic detergents in provinces and cities in China in 2018

In 2018,the output of domestic synthetic washing powder was mainly concentrated in Guangdong ,Sichuan,Anhui,Zhejiang and Shandong,with the output of 982.9 kt,589.9 kt,480.3 kt,410.7 kt,and 265.4 kt respectively,increased by -9.75%,-23.62%,-3.86%,-17.12% and -63.49% from 2017.In contrast,the top five areas of liquid detergent output were Guangdong,Tianjin,Zhejiang,Anhui and Shanghai,with a total output of more than 3,700 kt,making up for 64.57% of the total liquid detergent output of the year (as shown in Figure 3).

Figure 3.Statistics of main output data of synthetic washing powders and liquid detergents in provinces and cities in China in 2018

As for the regional consumption structure and capacity,liquid detergent is currently concentrated in economically developed areas (e.g.eastern and southern China),provincial capitals and densely populated small and medium-sized cities.According to incomplete statistics,the consumption proportion of laundry detergent in urban areas with a population of more than 300,000 reached 45% in 2017,75.5% in small cities.The fraction of coverage of dishwashing detergent in rural areas even reached 85 %.

Detergent consumption capacity is closely related to the consumption level of the population.The per capita consumption of synthetic detergent in eastern and southern China and large and medium-sized cities is more than 20 kg/year,more than twice the national average.Detergent consumption in rural and underdeveloped areas is mainly washing powder and soap,with the per capita annual consumption ranging from 3 kg to 5 kg.

Monthly data

The monthly output data of domestic synthetic detergent in 2018 are shown in Table 2.In the whole year,only monthly output in March,April and August increased year-on-year,while other months showed negative growth,especially in November and December of the second half of the year,with monthly output showing negative growth of 16.9% and 23.1% respectively.The reasons may be closely related to the domestic economic situation,industry inventory and the raw materials trend.It is expected that 2019 will continue to maintain the same trend in 2018 and enter a new rapid growth point in 2020.

The monthly output of synthetic detergents in 2018 is shown in Table 3.The top five provinces and cities in monthly output are Guangdong,Shanghai,Zhejiang,Anhui and Sichuan,of which Sichuan is dominated by synthetic washing powder.

The monthly output trend of synthetic detergents in the top five provinces and cities in 2018 is shown in Figure 4.The monthly average output of synthetic detergent in Guangdong province is over 250 kt,which is equivalent to the total output of the other four provinces and cities.Guangdong province is also the main foreign trade “window” of synthetic detergent in China.

Table 2.Statistics of monthly output data of domestic synthetic detergents in 2018

Table 3.Statistics on monthly output of synthetic detergents in provinces and cities in China from Jan.to Dec.2018/1,000 t

Figure 4.Statistics of monthly output data of synthetic detergents in main domestic provinces and cities in 2018

Economic indicators

In 2018,the total number of enterprises above scale in washing products industry was 403,15 more than in 2017.Major industrial economic indicators: main business income was 147.40 billion yuan,up 1.38% from the same period last year,lower than 175.84 billion yuan in 2017.The total profit was 10.32 billion yuan,up -9.04% year-on-year,lower than 12.93 billion yuan in 2017.In the whole year,the total cost of the main business cost (cost of sales) totaled 108.25 billion yuan,up 1.73% year on year.In the whole year,corporate losses totaled 0.70 billion yuan,lower than 0.84 billion yuan in 2017,and the scale of loss was 16.38%,higher than 12.37% in 2017 (as shown in Table 4).

Table 4.Economic indicators of domestic washing products industry in 2018

Table 5.Statistics on monthly economic indicators of domestic washing products industry in 2018

The monthly economic indicators of the domestic detergent industry in 2018 are shown in Table 5.The monthly average of the whole year's main revenue is 12.28 billion yuan,the monthly average main profit is 0.86 billion yuan,the average cost of the main business is 9.02 billion yuan,and the final annual debt is 59.51 billion yuan.The development of the whole industry is facing some bottlenecks,but overall it is relatively stable.It is estimated that the trend of washing products industry will be more severe in 2019,and the adjustment of industry structure is imminent.

Summary

China's washing products industry has entered the long tail period after maturity.The output of washing products has been increasing steadily for years.The extensive development mode of scale expansion has played an important role in the early development of the industry.With the progress of economy and society and the idea of environmental protection gradually gaining popularity,the development mode with the expansion of quantity as the main method can no longer meet the requirements of the new market environment.Specifically,the future development of China's washing products industry will focus on liquid,concentrated,environmentally friendly and safe products.Unbalanced regional development determines that there are great differences in the consumption structure of washing products.Enterprises lack innovative technical support in regional product development and functional formula development.Although the market scale of local brands has increased,there is a certain gap between China and foreign countries in high-end washing products and high-quality products.Since today market competition is extremely fierce,how to seek new development opportunities is a problem that the domestic washing products industry must solve.Regarding the current situation,low carbon and high efficiency have become the only way to realize the sustainable development of the washing products industry.