The price of wood-plastic materials is relatively high, mainly for the following reasons:
1. Raw material cost:
- Selection of high-quality raw materials: The main components of wood-plastic materials are wood powder and plastic. Wood powder usually comes from discarded wood scraps, sawdust, etc., but in order to ensure product quality, these wood powders need to be screened, dried, ground and processed to remove impurities and moisture, which increases the initial processing cost of wood powder. For the plastic part, high-quality plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene are generally used, and the price of these plastics is not low. In addition, the better the quality of the raw materials, the higher the price. Good raw materials can ensure the performance and quality of wood-plastic materials, so the cost cannot be reduced too much in the selection of raw materials.
- Raw material ratio and formula: Wood-plastic materials need to mix wood powder and plastic in a certain proportion, and some additives such as lubricants, stabilizers, antioxidants, etc. need to be added to improve the processing performance of the material and the stability of the product. The addition of these additives also increases the cost of raw materials, and different products require different formulas, and the process of research and development and adjustment of formulas will also incur certain costs.
2. Complex production process:
- High temperature and high pressure processing: The production process of wood-plastic materials needs to be carried out under high temperature and high pressure conditions to fully mix wood powder and plastic and extrude them into shape. This requires the use of professional production equipment, such as extruders, molds, etc. The investment cost of these equipment is high, and the energy consumption of the equipment is also large, which increases the production cost.
- Strict process control: During the production process, process parameters such as temperature, pressure, and speed need to be strictly controlled to ensure the quality and performance of the product. This requires professional technicians to operate and monitor, which increases labor costs. At the same time, if there are problems in the production process, it may lead to an increase in the scrap rate of the product, further increasing the production cost.
3. High quality inspection requirements: As a widely used building and decoration material, wood-plastic materials need to meet strict quality standards and safety requirements. Therefore, manufacturers need to conduct strict quality inspections on each batch of products, including physical performance tests, chemical performance tests, environmental performance tests, etc. These testing equipment and testing processes require a lot of money and manpower, which increases the cost of the product.
4. Product performance advantages:
- Cost reflection brought by good performance: Wood plastic materials have the advantages of waterproof, moisture-proof, anti-corrosion, anti-insect, not easy to deform, good weather resistance, etc. These performance advantages make it have obvious advantages in service life and maintenance cost. However, in order to achieve these performances, manufacturers need to make a lot of investments in raw material selection, production process, quality control, etc., and these investments will be reflected in the price of the product.
- Customized demand increases cost: Wood plastic materials can be customized according to different needs, such as different colors, shapes, sizes, textures, etc., which increases the complexity and cost of production. Customized products need to be designed and produced separately and cannot be mass-produced, so the cost per unit product will be relatively high.
5. Market and industry factors:
- Marketing and brand building: As a new type of material, the market awareness and acceptance of wood plastic materials need to be further improved. Manufacturers need to carry out a lot of marketing and brand building work to improve the popularity and reputation of their products. These marketing and brand building activities require a lot of investment and will also increase the cost of the product.
- Industry development stage: Currently, the wood-plastic material industry is still in the development stage, the scale and number of production enterprises are relatively small, and the industry concentration is low. This leads to high costs for production enterprises in raw material procurement, production equipment procurement, technology research and development, etc., and it is impossible to form economies of scale, thus pushing up product prices.
