High-end products in excess of low-end cable products are in short supply

In contrast, the domestic cable industry still has a big gap with foreign advanced enterprises in quality control and talent reserve. While many cable companies are keen to build high-voltage cable production lines, they still cannot solve the problem of localization of ultra-clean cable materials used in the production of high-voltage cables. Currently, only a handful of domestic manufacturers can produce high-voltage cable accessories to study high-voltage cable systems. And engineering, as well as companies that fully meet the technical requirements for high-voltage cable products and services, are even rarer. At the same time, in the wire and cable industry chain, there are few companies involved in high value-added wire and cable.

Because the raw materials of EHV cables are imported, it is not only unfavorable to the quality control of EHV cables by domestic enterprises, but also makes it difficult for enterprises to produce high-quality products. Insiders pointed out that in the development of EHV cables, the most pressing problem for domestic companies is the development and production of EHV cable accessories. At present, China's domestic high voltage UHV cable accessories have been lagging behind the cable body.

Experts suggested that China's ultra-high voltage cable companies and related scientific research institutions should increase the development process of ultra-high voltage cable materials and cable accessories, promote localization, and seize the technical commanding heights of high-voltage power cables. Recently, the “domestic 500 kV cross-linked polyethylene insulated power cable” developed and successfully used by domestic enterprises for domestic large-scale hydropower projects passed the appraisal of achievements and broke foreign monopoly in this field. However, some experts said that individual breakthroughs cannot cover the gap in the entire cable industry.

The 500 kV cable research and development was broken through the topic of "China-made 500 kV XLPE Insulated Power Cables". The appraisal committee composed of Professor Lu Qiang, a professor at Tsinghua University, believes that the research and application of the project's achievements have filled the domestic gap and reached the international level. Advanced level.

According to reports, because of the design and R&D gaps, the domestic market for ultra-high voltage 500 kV and above voltage cross-linked polyethylene insulated power cables has been monopolized by foreign high-voltage cable manufacturers, resulting in abnormally high prices for ultra-high voltage cables and delays in after-sales services. For this reason, China needs to spend a lot of foreign exchange imports each year to meet the needs of domestic power station construction.

Longtan Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. and Hebei Xinbaofeng Cable Co., Ltd. combined domestic needs, carried out special research and successfully developed the ultra-high voltage 500 kV and above voltage grades with independent intellectual property rights in China through the introduction-digestion and absorption-re-innovation method. Polyethylene insulated power cable.

The experts of the project team stated that since the localization of the 500 kV cable for the first time since the Longtan Hydropower Project was put into operation in August 2008, it has been operating safely for 30 months. This saves about 60% of the investment in cable projects for the Longtan Hydropower Project. This achievement broke the monopoly of foreign companies on the Chinese market and significantly reduced the purchase price of the 500 kV XLPE insulated power cable market.

It is reported that this domestically produced cable has been successively applied to Shanxi Xuangang thermal power plant, Sichuan Xiangjiaba hydropower station, Fujian Xianyou pumped storage power station and other projects, and has achieved great economic and social benefits.

The statistics related to the oversold of the low-end products in the cable industry show that in 2008, the usage of 220 kV EHV wire and cable in China was about 930 kilometers, forming a market space of about 2.3 billion yuan; in 2009, the usage of UHV cables in China was about 2500. Kilometers form a market space of about 5 billion yuan. In the past two years, the average annual growth has been above 20%.

The reporter learned that China's current wire and cable industry has 4,290 enterprises above designated size. Although there are a large number of companies, there are not many enterprises that can often obtain large orders in the bidding of main users of power cables.

It is understood that China's wire and cable industry started relatively late, but it has developed rapidly. Domestic high-voltage cross-linked cables have established and improved evaluation systems. The actual operation for many years has proved that our high-voltage power cables have high stability. According to China's present cable market conditions and the development trend of industry demand, it is imperative to increase the technological content of the cable, increase the technological level, and achieve high-end product structure. 110 kV and above high voltage cross-linked cables are urgently needed varieties of wire and cable in China.

Guoyuan Securities researchers believe that there is a structural surplus in the cable industry, but demand for high-end products is strong. The prominent contradiction in the cable industry is the low level of industrial concentration and the surplus of low-end products. At present, China's largest wire and cable industry, the largest market share of the company is only 1% -2%. The total output value of the top ten wire and cable companies accounted for only about 15% of the entire industry. Therefore, the low-end product price war is fierce. At the same time, there are fewer companies with production capacity of 110 kV cable accessories, 220 kV and above high voltage, ultra-high voltage power cables and cable accessories.

In recent years, the demand for 220 kV and above voltage power cables in China has grown rapidly, which in turn has triggered many competing cable companies to invest in them. According to industry sources, its profit is already close to twice the profit of 110 kV and below voltage grade cable. In addition, UHV cables are also a new direction for cable companies.

The development of cable raw materials and accessories lags behind. From the perspective of the entire industry, foreign brands are still in the leading position in the high-end market of wire and cable. Nexans, Pirelli from Europe, and Furukawa, Sumitomo, and Fujikura from Japan all have a significant share in the cable market in China, especially in the high-end products market.

From the 1970s, foreign countries began to produce high-voltage cross-linked polyethylene power cables. Currently, UHV cross-linked polyethylene insulated plastic and ultra-high-voltage cross-linked polyethylene insulated cables can reach a withstand voltage level of 500 kV and the technology is very mature and established. The complete system from polyethylene base material, high pressure crosslinked polyethylene insulation plastics to high voltage crosslinked polyethylene cables.