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Global supplier of EXCHANGE MEMBRANE— News —
AB surface of domestically produced proton exchange membrane2（
It is worth noting that in the current lack of sufficient market orders, the price advantage of domestic proton exchange membranes compared to imported brands is not significant. Replacing domestic proton exchange membranes also means necessary verification and testing, which will inevitably prolong the delivery cycle and lack the motivation for downstream companies to replace them.
Opportunities are hidden in difficulties
Although there are still significant difficulties in the large-scale installation and application of domestically produced proton exchange membranes in a short period of time, based on application data over the years, they are gradually opening up the monopoly of imported products.
According to GGII data, the amount of proton exchange membrane required for domestically produced membrane electrodes in China's hydrogen fuel cell field in 2021 was 112000 square meters, an increase of over 150% compared to the previous year. In terms of the domestication rate of proton exchange membranes, GGII data shows that the demand for domestically produced membrane electrode proton exchange membranes in 2020 was 44000 square meters, with a market share of 7.5%. In 2021, the market share of domestically produced proton exchange membranes increased to 11.61%.
From the perspective of market competition, the domestic proton exchange membrane market is still dominated by foreign brands. Domestic proton exchange membrane enterprises are actively demonstrating and promoting their products, starting product validation and small batch shipments. At the same time, companies such as Guangdong Emont and Huayi Group are also developing hydrogen fuel cell proton exchange membranes.
As is well known, the policy of "replacing subsidies with rewards" and the planning of demonstration city clusters for fuel cell vehicles provide a rare opportunity for the localization of membrane electrodes and a development window for domestically produced proton exchange membranes.
From a purely market perspective, there is currently no urgency for us to adopt domestically produced proton exchange membranes. We prefer to use safe membranes, and no enterprise is willing to take on this risk. If downstream customers explicitly require the use of domestically produced membranes, the progress of mass application may be accelerated. "A senior executive of a fuel cell stack company stated that from the perspective of the entire industry, the localization of proton exchange membranes has opened a door, and there is a high possibility that some special demonstration projects will adopt domestically produced membranes in bulk in the short term.
For domestic proton exchange membrane enterprises, breaking through the first batch loading verification checkpoint is the most difficult and time-consuming, and once this checkpoint is breached, it is expected that the subsequent loading speed will be much faster.
Although issues such as pricing, validation, and enhancing product competitiveness have not yet been resolved, fortunately, domestic enterprises have taken a crucial step towards industrialization. It is expected that with the improvement of technology and the continuous maturity of matching verification, the proportion of domestically produced proton exchange membranes will gradually increase.