Recently, electro-galvanized metal wire mesh, a subcategory in the metal products field, has seen a continuous increase in demand in scenarios such as livestock and poultry breeding, building protection, and garden fences, thanks to its core advantages of corrosion resistance and high strength. The industry has presented a new development pattern under policy regulation, technological innovation, and market adjustment, and has become a highly dynamic subcategory in the metal processing industry.
The core competitiveness of electro-galvanized metal wire monkey mesh stems from its unique processing technology. It uses low-carbon steel wire as the base material and forms a uniform zinc layer on the surface through electrolysis. The thickness of the zinc layer is usually controlled at 60-100μm, which is more precise than the traditional hot-dip galvanizing process. It not only avoids the waste of zinc material but also, through the sacrificial anode protection effect of zinc, enhances the salt spray corrosion resistance of the mesh to 500-800 hours. It has solved the pain points of rusting and short service life of ordinary steel wires. The current mainstream products in the industry have wire diameters ranging from 1.8 to 3.0mm, and the mesh sizes range from 2cm×2cm to 5cm×5cm, which can meet the requirements of different scenarios for protective strength and light transmission.
Policy guidance has charted a clear path for the development of the industry. The "Green Development Action Plan for the Metal Products Industry (2024-2026)" clearly includes the zinc utilization rate of the electro-galvanizing process in the assessment, requiring key enterprises to reduce zinc consumption by more than 15%, and promoting the industry to phase out the highly polluting cyanide galvanizing process and shift to cyanide-free galvanizing technology. Meanwhile, the "Construction Standards for Large-scale Livestock and Poultry Farms" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs mandates that the breeding fence nets must pass the corrosion resistance test, which directly drives the demand for high-specification electro-galvanized monkey nets. In the third quarter of 2024, the purchase volume in the breeding field increased by 32% year-on-year.
Technological upgrading has become the key handle for enterprises to break through the deadlock. Leading enterprises have achieved a transformation from "extensive production" to "precise control". The intelligent galvanizing production line launched by Sishun Metal uses a PLC control system to adjust current and temperature parameters in real time, keeping the zinc coating thickness error within ±5μm, and increasing the product qualification rate from 88% to 99.2%. Meanwhile, the new zinc-nickel alloy coating technology has begun to be applied. Under the same thickness, the corrosion resistance of the product is twice as good as that of pure zinc coating. Although the cost increases by 10%, it is still favored in special scenarios such as Marine ranches and chemical industrial parks, and its market share is gradually expanding.
The market shows a "polarization" feature. Due to the low technical threshold and fierce competition among small and medium-sized enterprises, the price of ordinary electro-galvanized monkey mesh has dropped by 8% to 12% year-on-year. However, the supply and demand of high-specification products are in a tight balance. Due to the expansion of large-scale breeding in the southwest region, the shortage of high-quality products has reached 15%. Orders for enterprises such as Sishun and Huayuan have been scheduled until the beginning of 2025. The export market also performed well. Due to the development of infrastructure and aquaculture industries in Southeast Asia, Africa and other regions, the export volume of China's electro-galvanized monkey mesh increased by 27% year-on-year in 2024, mainly sold to countries such as Vietnam and Nigeria.
In the future, with the popularization of intelligent detection technology and the internalization of environmental protection costs, the industry concentration will further increase. Meanwhile, the growing demand for customized and lightweight products will drive enterprises to increase their investment in research and development. The electro-galvanized metal wire mesh industry will achieve continuous growth through quality improvement and market expansion.