TMP Has a Bright Development Prospect

Concentrated capacity in the world  

The United States, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan province are
the major TMP (trimethylolpropane) producing countries and
regions in the world. The global production capacity of TMP was
250 thousand t/a in 2006 and the actual output was around 145
thousand tons.
   Globally, Western Europe has always been the major TMP
production and export region. TMP produced in the United States
is basically for its own use, but with the constant capacity
expansion in recent years there are also small amounts for export.
The demand for TMP in Asia increases rapidly and there is a
serious supply deficit.

Supply deficit in China

China achieved the TMP commercial production using the
cross-Cannizzaro condensation process in the 1970s. Companies
such as Beijing No.3 Chemical Plant and Shenyang Paint Plant
constructed production units. Due to limited raw material
availability, inadequate post-processing technology, high
production cost and poor economic performance, however, many TMP
units had a very low operating rate.
   Because of the supply deficit in the TMP market, quite a few
companies in China have constructed or expanded TMP production
units in recent years. With the completion of the 15 thousand
t/a TMP expansion project in Haite Chemical Plant of CNPC Jilin
Petrochemical Company Ltd., (CCR2005, No. 25) China's capacity
of TMP has reached 28 thousand t/a. The capacity in Haite
Chemical Plant of CNPC Jilin Petrochemical Company Ltd. and
Hubei Yihua Group Co., Ltd. is 15 thousand t/a and 10 thousand
t/a respectively. China's output of TMP was around 18 thousand
tons in 2006.
    Some enterprises also plan to construct or expand TMP
projects. The largest scale will reach 10 thousand t/a. Besides,
Perstorp of Sweden announced on January 19th, 2007 that it will
purchase the 15 thousand t/a new TMP plant in Zibo of Shandong
province. The plant is jointly established by Perstorp and Zibo
Fufeng Tongsheng Chemical Co., Ltd. The transaction is yet
subject to the approval of the local government. Production will
soon start after the approval is granted. (CCR2007, No. 5&6)
   There are quite a few TMP projects to be constructed or
expanded in China, but due to restrictions in capital and raw
material n-butyraldehyde, the possibility for all these
projects to start quick production is not great. The TMP market
in China will therefore still have a supply deficit.

Rapid demand growth

China's consumption of TMP already reached 28 thousand tons in
2006. The consumption of TMP in high-grade alkyd resins and
polyurethane coatings accounts for around 61% of the total. The
consumption in plasticizers accounts for 16%. It is expected
that China's demand for TMP will increase at an average annual
rate of around 16% in the next few years and reach 51 thousand
tons in 2010.
   As the output of TMP in China can not meet the demand in the
downstream market, great quantities have to be imported from
abroad in recent years. The imported amount of TMP has always
been more than 10 thousand tons a year since 2001. The imported
amount was 13.1 thousand tons in 2006, the apparent consumption
was around 28 thousand tons and the import dependence was around
47%.
  
Outdated process and raw material supply deficit

Major methods for the TMP commercial production today are the
cross-Cannizzaro condensation process and the aldehyde
hydro-reduction process. TMP producers in China mainly use the
cross-Cannizzaro condensation process. The high production cost
of the process has seriously affected the economic performance
in producers.
   Major raw materials for the TMP production include
formaldehyde, methanol, sodium hydroxide and n-butyraldehyde.
Formaldehyde, methanol and sodium hydroxide have abundant
supply. The most important raw material n-butyraldehyde is an
intermediate product in the butanol/octanol production. When
the butanol/octanol market is good, the amount of
n-butyraldehyde commodity is very small. The n-butyraldehyde
production therefore needs to be developed to solve the problem
of raw material supply in the TMP production.

Table 1  TMP Projects Planned for Construction and Expansion in
China  (thousand t/a)

Producer                                 Capacity           
Remark
Heilongjiang Zhaodong Huaxin Chemical Co.    10    planned for
construction
Zibo Qisu Industrial and Trading Co.            10    planned
for construction
Hebei Qinhuangdao Dahua Organic Chemical Plant     5    planned
for expansion
Hubei Zhongtian Jingmen Chemical Co.             5    planned
for construction
Northwest Yongxin Chemical Industry Co.             5    planned
for construction
Source: CNCIC

Table 2  Import and Export of TMP in China
     (thousand tons)
Year    Import    Export
2001    15.5    -
2002    19.2    0.1
2003    19.9    0.3
2004    19.0    0.1
2005    18.0    0.5
2006    13.1    3.4
Source: CNCIC