PVC Electrical Wires And Cables - The Fundamental And Core Material in The Field Of Power Transmission

PVC cables are electrical transmission carriers composed of polyvinyl chloride as the insulating and protective material, along with conductors. With excellent comprehensive performance, they are widely used in various fields of the national economy such as construction, power, and communication, and are currently one of the most widely used cable types. Their core advantage lies in superior electrical performance, with a volume resistivity of up to 10¹² - 10¹⁵ Ω·cm and a dielectric strength of up to 10-30 kV/mm, effectively ensuring the safety and stability of power transmission.
The mechanical properties of PVC cables are outstanding. The tensile strength of rigid PVC can reach 40-60 MPa, and the elongation at break of soft PVC is up to 200-400%, with good flexibility, making them easy to bend, lay, and install, and suitable for different wiring requirements in various scenarios. At the same time, it has excellent environmental resistance, acid and alkali resistance, wear resistance, with an absorption rate of less than 0.5%, stable electrical performance in humid environments, and an oxygen index of over 45%, self-extinguishing when removed from fire, and meeting safety standards for flame retardancy.
Economy is one of the core competitiveness of PVC cables. Domestic production capacity of PVC resin is sufficient, the supply chain is stable, the processing temperature is low, and energy consumption is small, with a comprehensive cost far lower than high-end materials such as cross-linked polyethylene. Currently, the domestic market size of PVC cables is steadily growing, with a 48% share of building cables and 32% of power transmission cables. With the implementation of new national standards, the proportion of functional products with fire retardant, low smoke, and halogen-free properties continues to increase, gradually meeting the strict requirements of high-end buildings and new energy fields.
Under the background of the "carbon neutrality" goal and increasingly strict environmental regulations, the PVC cable industry is accelerating its transformation towards green, high-performance, and functionalization, taking into account both environmental protection and practicality, to meet the development needs of emerging fields. The industry is gradually phasing out traditional high-pollution formulas, promoting the ethylene method of PVC, replacing the high-energy consumption calcium carbide process, and adopting non-ferrous metal stabilizers and biobased plasticizers to reduce environmental load. Some products have already passed the EU ROHS certification.
Technical iteration promotes the upgrade of product performance. Through the synergistic effect of antimony-phosphorus-nitrogen, the oxygen index of PVC cables is increased to over 38.5%, the smoke density is significantly reduced, further enhancing fire safety; the application of nano-modification technology effectively improves the high-temperature resistance of PVC, enabling a long-term use temperature exceeding 70°C, meeting the needs of emerging scenarios such as new energy vehicle chargers and data centers. Intelligent upgrading has also become a trend. Some enterprises integrate sensing functions into the cable sheaths to achieve integration of power transmission and status monitoring.
The downstream demand structure continues to optimize, with new energy, rail transit, and data centers becoming core growth engines. In 2025, the usage of photovoltaic cables increased by 29.4%, and the investment scale of rail transit reached 684 billion yuan, driving a surge in demand for weather-resistant, UV-resistant PVC cables. At the same time, the recycling system is gradually improving, with a comprehensive recycling rate of waste PVC cables reaching 41.3%, and the utilization rate of high-value products has increased to 61%, achieving resource recycling. In the future, PVC cables will continue to innovate through continuous technological advancements, maintaining cost advantages while further expanding high-end application scenarios and achieving high-quality development.