Surfactant industry development status
Surfactant is a fine chemical industry, fine chemical industry, high technology intensity, product variety, high value, wide range of uses, industrial relevance, direct service in the national economy of many industries and high-tech industries in various fields. The development of China’s surfactant industry and the development of China’s fine chemical industry as a whole is similar to the late start, but the development is faster.
01
Current situation of industrial development
At present, the downstream application of special surfactant industry is very wide, involving various fields of the national economy, such as water treatment, glass fiber, coatings, construction, paints, daily chemicals, inks, electronics, pesticides, textiles, printing and dyeing, chemical fibers, leather, petroleum, automotive industry, etc., and is expanding to the field of high and new technology, new materials, biology, energy, information and other high-tech industries to provide strong support. Domestic surfactants have established a certain industrial scale, and the production capacity of large varieties of surfactants has been greatly improved, which can meet the basic domestic demand and export some products to the international market. In terms of technology, the basic process technology and devices are more mature, and the quality and supply of main raw materials are more stable, which provides the most basic guarantee for the diversified development of surfactant industry. However, new varieties of small varieties, high technology content, high product quality and special surfactants with special functions are still insufficient, and the independent innovation ability needs to be improved, especially in the field of special surfactants, a large number of key technologies are still dependent on the introduction, and there is a big gap compared with developed countries.
Green surfactant technology and products are developing fast, and some of them are at the international advanced level. With the continuous concern for environment, safety and health, the production of new green surfactants from renewable resources has become a hotspot of surfactant research, development and industrialization in recent years, and the serialization of its varieties and derivatives can meet the needs of different fields. In the process of surfactant greening, not only focusing on the greening of raw materials, but also doing a lot of pioneering work in the preparation process, the application process, the human body and environment-friendly greening of products.
02
Market Development Status
Functional small varieties of surfactants are developing and developing rapidly, but there is still a big gap between the varieties and quantities compared with the developed countries in the world. Functionalization of surfactants is another major development direction, and our country has made oriented promotion in relevant policies and plans, which has been generally recognized by the industry. Domestic research institutions, colleges and universities, companies in this area has carried out a lot of work, has achieved a number of promising results, with the development of science and technology and domestic production equipment, in addition to the original large varieties, in recent years, has also developed a number of functional small varieties. Such as new structure, new function of surfactant varieties to expand, some have been industrialized, some in the pilot test and application promotion stage, but the results of independent innovation technology engineering and industrialization is not ideal, functional surfactants are still in short supply, the total number of varieties and the number of developed countries and industrial demand there is still a big gap, still need to make joint efforts throughout the industry, innovation and research, the development of new varieties, to make up the It is still necessary for the whole industry to make joint efforts, innovate and develop new varieties, so as to make up for the gap, catch up with the development and meet the demand.
Industrial surfactants also have rapid development. In recent years, under the pressure of the development of surfactants and the desire of the industry for surfactants, the development of industrial surfactants has been accelerated, expanding the application fields and market development of surfactants, such as polycarboxylic acid-type water reducers used in the construction industry, surfactants with high resistance to alkali, acid and salt used in the industrial cleaning industry, and surfactants with high resistance to alkalis, acids and salts used in coatings, special new materials, pharmaceutical industry, food industry and other industries. materials, pharmaceutical industry, food industry and other fields are getting more and more applications.
03
Status of industrial technology
The improvement of standards, technological innovation and protection of intellectual property rights in the field of surfactants are still insufficient. After nearly two decades of rapid development, China’s surfactant industry has become a global production power, but the industry still lacks a certain degree of foresight in the advanced equipment, safety, product quality standards to improve the process of intrinsic safety, environmental friendliness, energy saving and consumption reduction, etc. There is still a large room for improvement; the industry’s independent innovation ability is not strong, the industry’s technological innovation system needs to be strengthened, the role of intellectual property rights legal protection is relatively weak, and the phenomenon of technology loss and diffusion is relatively serious. Weak, the phenomenon of technology loss and proliferation is more serious. It is an important foundation for the further development of surfactant industry to continuously strengthen the industry infrastructure, improve the protection of intellectual property rights, and give full play to the roles of three parts of the technological innovation force (R&D institutions of the manufacturing enterprises, professional research institutes belonging to the industry, and relevant majors in colleges and universities).
After years of development, the variety and quality of domestic non-surfactant mass products have been in line with the international standards, and the production capacity also belongs to the forefront of the world, but there is still a big gap between some high value-added, high-end functional products with special functions and the world’s advanced level. Especially in the personal care, health care, food and other industries, and Europe and the United States and other developed countries, there are still many gaps, the future of this part of the market will be the main growth point of specialty surfactants. The traditional industrial and daily chemical surfactants, due to the country’s upgrading of environmental protection requirements and the diversification of customer needs, the demand for environmentally friendly, efficient specialty surfactants is also increasing.
04
Status of Industrial Policy
The Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Sound Green, Low-Carbon and Recycling Development Economic System was released on February 22, 2021, proposing to accelerate the implementation of green transformation of iron and steel, petrochemicals, chemicals, nonferrous materials, building materials, textiles, paper, leather and other industries.The Catalogue of Industries to Encourage Foreign Investment (2020 Edition) released on December 27, 2020 puts the surfactants, water treating agents, adhesives, sealants, adhesive tapes, inorganic fibers, inorganic nano-materials production, pigment coating treatment and deep processing are included in Article 59 of the National Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment.
The Development Plan for the Construction of Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Community issued on December 20, 2020 proposes to establish cross-regional, multi-mode industrial technology innovation alliances in key areas such as electronic information, biomedicine, aerospace, high-end equipment, new materials, energy conservation and environmental protection, marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships, and support the establishment of a batch of Yangtze River Delta Industry-University-Research Co-innovation Centers, with enterprises as the main body.
On November 3, 2020, it was proposed to accelerate the growth of new-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, new-energy vehicles, green environmental protection, and aerospace, marine equipment and other industries.
Circular on Catalogue of Outdated Hazardous Chemicals Safe Production Processes, Technologies and Equipment (First Batch) issued on October 23, 2020, proposing the elimination of outdated processes, including chlorine liquefaction process using ammonia-frozen brine, and resin production process for paints with direct heating by fire, etc., and the elimination of outdated equipment, including open centrifuges, and chloro vinyl gas cabinets with multi-session bells and whistles.
The Implementing Opinions on Supporting Private Enterprises to Accelerate Reform, Development, Transformation and Upgrading issued on October 23, 2020 proposed to further liberalize energy-saving and environmentally friendly competitive businesses in the petroleum, chemical, electric power and natural gas sectors.
The Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Safe Production Management in the Industrial Sector, issued on June 12, 2020, proposes to promote the green and safe development of chemical parks; promote the transformation and upgrading of chemical enterprises by utilizing relocation and transformation, and implement substitution or low-hazardous transformation of key regulated high-risk chemicals, hazardous chemical processes and equipment. Enterprises are encouraged to build digital workshops and intelligent factories to improve the level of intrinsic safety and pollution management, and empower the transformation and upgrading of enterprises.
The Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening Work Safety of Hazardous Chemicals, issued on February 26, 2020, puts forward specific requirements around the strengthening of six aspects of chemical parks, such as safety risk management and control, implementation of the main responsibility of enterprises, basic support and guarantee, and safety supervision capacity.
05
Analysis of External Dependence
Surfactants in developed countries have experienced a long development cycle, in the global market to maintain a more stable amount, the global surfactant market in 2020 reached 42.7 billion U.S. dollars, the total market will reach 22.802 million tons, the sales volume growth rate during the period of 2015-2022 will reach 5.40%, the sales growth rate will reach 5.90%. With the rapid development of high-tech industry, there will be a greater demand for the diversification of surfactant varieties and output aspects, and higher requirements for the R&D and innovation strength of enterprises as well as perfect and stable production system, and the competitiveness of large-scale, specialized and technology-based enterprises will be further improved. As of 2020, the production capacity of China’s nonionic surface active reached about 2.31 million tons. With the continuous improvement of consumption level and economic development, the domestic demand for nonionic table activity also increases accordingly, but the domestic market is in a situation of supply exceeding demand. In recent years, the export business of domestic table activity has increased rapidly, the growth rate is higher than the growth rate of imports, and the net imports show a decreasing trend year by year. As of 2020, China’s non-ionic table live imports were 200,800 tons, an increase of 0.79 million tons, or 4.1%, compared with 2019. As of 2020, China’s export volume of nonionic table live is 188,300 tons, an increase of 30,700 tons or 19.5% from 2019.From 2016 to 2020, China’s net import volume of nonionic table live decreases year by year, with a compound annual decline rate of around 38.7%.As of 2020, China’s net import volume of nonionic table live is only 12,500 tons, a decline of 2016 85%, down 64% from 2019. In the long term future, the consumption of domestic nonionic surfactants, especially new surfactants, will still maintain a high growth rate; at the same time, with the improvement of the technical level of China’s domestic surfactant manufacturers and the continuous expansion of the production scale, the international competitiveness of China’s surfactant products will be further improved, and it will reduce the dependence on foreign imports of some high-end products, and at the same time, overseas market At the same time, the expansion of overseas markets will increase, the export volume of surfactant is expected to continue to increase, and China’s nonionic surfactant is expected to gradually transition to net export.
06
Industry Investment Prospects
In 2020, the global surfactant market reaches USD 42.7 billion and the total market volume will reach 22.802 million tons, with a sales volume growth rate of 5.40% and a sales volume growth rate of 5.90% during 2015-2022. In terms of per capita consumption, China’s per capita consumption amounted to about 3.0 kg/year, much lower than that of North America which is about 9.5 kg/year. The compound annual growth rate of the market in Asia is expected to reach 6.5%, which is higher than the global average. China’s surfactant industry has a considerable production scale, equipment and technology has become increasingly close to the international level, the number, types and quality of products have grown and improved substantially. With the development of the world economy and the development of science and technology, the development of surfactants more rapidly, and its application areas from the existing traditional fields to the expansion of high-tech and industrial fields, which in China will be the following development trend:
(A) special, customized surfactant market gradually expand: with the development of fine chemicals, customers will put forward higher requirements on the performance of surfactants and more diversified, specific needs, will promote the surfactant industry towards more specialized and customized development direction, which is mainly reflected in the following two aspects: special functional surfactants will be vigorously developed. For example, silicone-containing surfactants not only have high temperature resistance, climate aging, non-toxic, non-corrosive and high physiological inertia and other characteristics, but also has a high surface activity, emulsification, dispersion, wetting, antistatic, defoaming, bubble stabilization and other properties, is an important special surfactant varieties. Such as poly-silicone ether surfactants, in different temperature ranges can be used as both defoamer and foam stabilizer, has important application value.
With the increasingly diversified needs of downstream customers, the surfactant industry will gradually appear the development trend of customization. At present, some of the larger, technologically leading surfactant manufacturers in China have started to develop and customize special surfactant products with different functions according to customers’ needs, which puts forward higher requirements on the technology and process of the whole industry, and the manufacturers must be able to adjust the production process according to the customer’s order in a timely manner, including raw material scheduling, staffing, production process, etc., in order to satisfy the customers’ increasing demand. (ii) New surfactants
(ii) Development and application of new surfactants: With the surfactant known as “industrial monosodium glutamate” being widely used in various fields of national economic development and the increasing attention paid by the state to environmental protection, the research and development of mild, safe, efficient, functional and environmentally friendly new surfactants has become a hotspot for surfactants in recent years. Hot spot. The development direction of surfactants in the future market mainly includes the following points:
Green and mild surfactants. With the improvement of living standard and the progress of human civilization, people pay more and more attention to the protection of the environment and their own health, and tend to use the natural green products which are not polluting the environment and are mild and safe, which put forward higher requirements for the biodegradability, irritation and ecotoxicity of surfactants, and the green surfactants and their derivatives products which are made of the raw materials of natural renewable resources such as oils, starch, rosin and amino acids represent a new generation of green surfactants. derivatives products represent the development direction of the new generation of green surfactant agents.
Polymer surfactants. Polymer surfactants are polymer compounds with surface-active function, which are widely used as gelling agent, drag reducing agent, viscosity increasing agent, dispersing agent, emulsifier, solubilizer, leveling agent, reinforcing agent, moisturizing agent, antistatic agent and paper reinforcing agent, etc. The development of inexpensive, non-toxic, non-polluting and multi-functional polymer surfactants is the trend of the polymer surfactant research.
Elemental surfactants. Due to the introduction of fluorine, silicon, phosphorus and boron and other elements to give its more unique and excellent performance surfactants, adding less, ultra-low surface tension, is a special class of surfactant varieties. With the development of the national economy, the demand for high-performance surfactants increased, its development potential is huge.
The application of surfactants in various emerging fields is also becoming more and more mature: in recent years, surfactants are more and more widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, and can be used as drug carriers, emulsifiers, dispersants, wetting agents, as well as used as a therapeutic agent and bactericidal disinfectant, etc.; surfactants are widely used in drilling, cementing, oil recovery, oil and gas collection and transportation, tertiary oil recovery and oilfield water treatment as oilfield chemicals, which is very important to ensure the safety of drilling, improve the efficiency of crude oil, and improve the efficiency of oil production. Surfactants are widely used as oilfield chemicals in drilling, cementing, oil recovery, oil and gas collection and transportation, tertiary oil recovery and oilfield water treatment, etc. They play an important role in ensuring drilling safety, improving crude oil efficiency, oil quality, production efficiency and equipment protection, reducing collection and transportation costs and preventing environmental pollution.
(iii) Production process improvement, energy saving and consumption reduction will become an important issue for enterprises: China’s surfactant industry is more fully competitive, if we want to be in a favorable position in the fierce competition, we need to strengthen the following two aspects: first, as far as possible to improve the conversion rate of the reaction process, selectivity, and to minimize the emissions, which involves the selection of the reaction line, development of high-efficiency catalysts, the process of determining the process and the development of reactors and unit operation equipment. This involves the selection of reaction lines, the development of high-efficiency catalysts, the determination of process flows, and the development of reactors and unit-operating equipment, etc.; secondly, there is a need to continuously reduce the unit production cost, save energy and reduce consumption, as well as improve the comprehensive utilization of by-products. Reprinted from Zhongjin Consulting
