While China’s extrusion blow molding machine industry has achieved remarkable progress in scale expansion and market penetration, it still faces prominent bottlenecks and challenges in high-quality development. These disadvantages are mainly reflected in the gaps in core technology, dependence on key components, irrational industrial structure, and insufficient international brand influence, which restrict the industry’s transformation from “large-scale” to “high-end”. Specifically, they can be summarized into the following six core dimensions:

I. Core Technology Shortcomings, Insufficient High-End Equipment Capabilities

China’s extrusion blow molding machine industry still has obvious gaps in core technology, especially in high-end and special-purpose equipment fields, which are dominated by international brands. Although the localization rate of basic equipment has been significantly improved, the R&D and manufacturing capabilities of high-end multi-layer co-extrusion blow molding machines (above 7 layers), large-scale heavy-duty blow molding equipment, and special material processing equipment (such as PTFE) are relatively weak. For example, in the production of high-precision PTFE extruded pipes, domestic equipment often suffers from frequent shutdown failures and cannot stably produce complete products, which restricts the application of domestic equipment in high-end industrial fields.

In terms of intelligent technology depth, the intelligent transformation of domestic equipment is mostly concentrated in the basic links such as data collection and simple automation, while the core technologies such as advanced process simulation, adaptive control, and digital twin integration are still immature. Compared with international leading brands such as KraussMaffei and Husky, the production efficiency of domestic high-end models is about 15%-20% lower, and the energy consumption fluctuation range is larger, which cannot fully meet the high-precision and high-stability production needs of downstream high-end industries such as aerospace and precision electronics.

II. Heavy Dependence on Imported Key Components, Weak Industrial Chain Autonomy

Although the localization rate of core components such as servo systems and PLC controllers has increased to 57% in 2024, high-end core components still rely heavily on imports. For high-end extrusion blow molding machines, the core components such as high-precision servo motors, high-performance sensors, and advanced PLC systems are mostly purchased from international manufacturers such as Siemens and Yaskawa. This not only increases the production cost of complete machines (accounting for 30%-40% of the total cost) but also restricts the improvement of equipment performance and the speed of technological iteration.

In the field of key supporting parts such as high-end screws and barrels, although enterprises such as Zhejiang Huaye have achieved market leadership in China, their market share is only 12.5% in 2023, and the overall industry still faces problems such as uneven product quality and insufficient supply capacity of high-end products. In addition, the supporting industrial chain for special materials and high-precision molds is not perfect, and the performance of domestic molds is unstable, which directly affects the forming accuracy and product quality of extrusion blow molding machines.

III. Homogeneous Competition in the Industry, Surplus Low-End Production Capacity

China’s extrusion blow molding machine industry has a large number of enterprises, but the industrial structure is irrational, showing a pattern of “many small and medium-sized enterprises, few leading enterprises”. Most small and medium-sized enterprises are concentrated in the low-end market, lacking independent R&D capabilities and core technologies, and mainly rely on price competition to seize the market. This not only leads to low industry profit margins but also causes serious surplus of low-end production capacity, while the high-end market is mostly occupied by international brands.

The homogenization of products is prominent. Most domestic enterprises produce similar medium and low-end models, with little difference in product performance and function. It is difficult to form differentiated competitive advantages. In the face of the upgrading demand of downstream industries for personalized and customized equipment, the response speed and innovation ability of small and medium-sized enterprises are insufficient, which further aggravates the vicious competition in the low-end market and restricts the healthy development of the whole industry.

IV. Unbalanced R&D Investment Structure, Weak Basic Research Capabilities

Although leading enterprises have increased their R&D investment, the overall R&D investment level of the industry is still low, and the investment structure is unbalanced. Most enterprises focus on applied technology research and development that can quickly achieve market returns, while the investment in basic research and core technology research is seriously insufficient. Due to the strong externality of basic research results, individual enterprises are difficult to internalize all benefits, resulting in insufficient motivation for investment.

The R&D cycle of high-end extrusion blow molding machines is long and the investment risk is high. Many small and medium-sized enterprises are unwilling to invest a lot of funds in long-term technology research and development. For example, the R&D of a six-mold high-speed rotary blow molding machine requires an investment of more than 15 million yuan and a research cycle of more than 3 years, which is difficult for most small and medium-sized enterprises to bear. This leads to the slow progress of core technology breakthroughs in the industry and long-term dependence on foreign technology for some key links.

V. Weak International Brand Influence, Single Export Market Structure

Although the export scale of China’s extrusion blow molding machines is expanding, the international brand influence is still weak. Most export products are medium and low-end models with low added value, and the market is mainly concentrated in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Russia, and India. The proportion of exports to high-end markets such as Europe and the United States is low. Due to the lack of international well-known brands and mature after-sales service networks, domestic equipment is often in a disadvantageous position in international competition, and it is difficult to compete with international leading brands in terms of brand recognition and customer trust.

The export market structure is single, and the export volume is greatly affected by the economic environment and trade policies of the target market. In addition, the lack of independent intellectual property rights and international certification also restricts the export of domestic equipment to high-end markets. Some enterprises even face the risk of intellectual property disputes in the process of export, which further affects the expansion of the international market.

VI. Gaps in Quality Stability and After-Sales Service System

The quality stability of domestic extrusion blow molding machines still has a certain gap compared with international brands. Due to the uneven quality of some key components and the lack of strict quality control in the production process, domestic equipment is prone to failures during long-term operation, which affects the production efficiency of downstream enterprises. For example, in the continuous production process of some domestic equipment, problems such as unstable extrusion volume and uneven product thickness often occur, which increases the maintenance cost of enterprises.

The after-sales service system is not perfect. The after-sales service network of many enterprises is mainly concentrated in the domestic market, and the after-sales service capabilities in the international market are weak. The response speed to overseas customer needs is slow, and the supply of spare parts is not timely. This not only affects the user experience of customers but also restricts the expansion of the international market. Compared with international brands with mature global after-sales service networks, domestic enterprises have obvious disadvantages in after-sales service.

In summary, the disadvantages of China’s extrusion blow molding machines are concentrated in the backwardness of core technology, the dependence on key components, the irrational industrial structure, the insufficiency of R&D investment, the weakness of brand influence, and the imperfection of after-sales service. To achieve high-quality development, the industry needs to strengthen basic research, promote the localization of core components, optimize the industrial structure, enhance brand building, and improve the after-sales service system, so as to break through the current development bottlenecks.