Woven Products
Woven polypropylene products—including woven sacks, tarpaulins, and ropes—have consistently accounted for a large share of PP resin consumption in China, making them the largest application market for polypropylene. These products are mainly used for packaging grain, fertilizers, cement, and other bulk materials. China is currently the world's largest producer and consumer of woven plastic products and remains the most promising market for their production and consumption. In developed regions such as Europe and North America, high labor costs and greater demand for high-end products have shifted market preferences toward injection-molded products, sheets, and other value-added applications, while low-end woven products are increasingly imported from developing countries. Although the share of woven products has declined slightly in recent years, they remained the largest end-use sector for polypropylene in China, accounting for 42% of total PP consumption in 2011.
Injection-Molded Products
Injection-molded polypropylene products are widely used in small household appliances, daily necessities, toys, washing machines, automobiles, and logistics containers. China has long relied heavily on imports of injection-grade polypropylene. In recent years, the share of polypropylene consumed in injection molding has grown rapidly, increasing from 17% in 2006 to 22% in 2011, making it the second-largest application after woven products. Domestic production remains insufficient to meet demand in this sector. Globally, injection-molded products represent the largest share of polypropylene consumption, particularly in industrialized countries and regions where the application of PP injection-molded products is more extensive. Therefore, China's injection molding market has substantial growth potential.
Film Products
Polypropylene films mainly include biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), cast polypropylene (CPP), conventional packaging films, and microporous films. BOPP offers numerous advantages, such as low weight, high mechanical strength, non-toxicity, transparency, and excellent moisture resistance. It is widely used in packaging, electrical and electronic products, adhesive tapes, label films, photographic films, and laminated materials, with the packaging industry accounting for the largest share of consumption. Different application fields impose varying technical requirements on BOPP films, among which film capacitors demand the highest performance. Due to relatively low processing requirements and attractive profit margins, excessive investment occurred in previous years. Most domestically produced BOPP films are manufactured using general-purpose raw materials, limiting film performance and weakening their competitive advantage over conventional CPP films. This trend has become increasingly evident.
Fiber Products
Polypropylene fiber (PP fiber) refers to fiber products produced from polypropylene through melt spinning. Owing to its excellent properties, polypropylene fiber has found increasingly widespread applications in decoration, industrial textiles, and apparel, becoming the second-largest category of synthetic fibers. Polypropylene fibers include staple fibers, filaments, nonwoven fabrics (spunbond and melt-blown), cigarette tow, and bulked continuous filament (BCF). These products are used in packaging, cigarette filter materials, geotextiles, construction materials, clothing, carpets, and hygiene products. In 2011, polypropylene fiber production consumed approximately 1.07 million metric tons of PP resin.
Pipes
Polypropylene pipes offer excellent heat resistance, convenient installation through heat fusion, electrofusion, or pipe fittings, and can be recycled after use. They are mainly applied in building water supply systems, heating systems, agricultural irrigation systems, and chemical pipeline systems.
