MHEC is mainly used in the field of building materials. It is often used in cement mortar to improve its water retention, prolong the setting time of cement mortar, reduce its flexural strength and compressive strength, and increase its bonding tensile strength. Because of the gel point of this type of product, it is less used in the field of coatings, and mainly competes with HPMC in the field of building materials. MHEC has a gel point, but it is higher than HPMC, and as the content of hydroxy ethoxy increases, its gel point moves to the direction of high temperature. If it is used in mixed mortar, it is beneficial to delay cement slurry at high temperature Bulk electrochemical reaction, increase the water retention rate and tensile bond strength of the slurry and other effects.

The investment scale of the construction industry, the real estate construction area, completed area, house decoration area, old house renovation area and their changes are the main factors affecting the demand for MHEC in the domestic market. Since 2021, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, real estate policy regulation, and liquidity risks of real estate companies, the prosperity of China’s real estate industry has declined, but the real estate industry is still an important industry for China’s economic development. Under the overall principles of “suppression”, “restraining irrational demand”, “stabilizing land prices, stabilizing house prices, and stabilizing expectations”, it emphasizes focusing on adjusting the medium- and long-term supply structure, while maintaining the continuity, stability, and consistency of regulatory policies, and improving the long-term real estate market. Effective management mechanism to ensure the long-term, stable and healthy development of the real estate market. In the future, the development of the real estate industry will tend to be more high-quality development with higher quality and lower speed. Therefore, the current decline in the prosperity of the real estate industry is caused by the phased adjustment of the industry in the process of entering a healthy development process, and the real estate industry still has room for development in the future. At the same time, according to the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the 2035 Long-term Goal Outline”, it is proposed to change the urban development mode, including accelerating urban renewal, upgrading old communities, old factories, old functions of stock areas such as old blocks and urban villages, and promote the renovation of old buildings and other goals. The increase in the demand for building materials in the renovation of old houses is also an important direction for the expansion of the MHEC market space in the future.

According to the statistics of the China Cellulose Industry Association, from 2019 to 2021, the output of MHEC by domestic enterprises was 34,652 tons, 34,150 tons and 20,194 tons respectively, and the sales volume was 32,531 tons, 33,570 tons and 20,411 tons respectively, showing an overall downward trend. The main reason is that MHEC and HPMC have similar functions and are mainly used for construction materials such as mortar. However, the cost and selling price of MHEC are higher than that of HPMC. In the context of the continuous growth of domestic HPMC production capacity, the market demand for MHEC has declined.