Plasticizer Products Diversified, Market Needs Regulation

By Wu Jun  CNCIC
In recent years, with the enactment of a series of regulations such as REACH (EU) and exposure of food safety issues such as Taiwan plasticizer food scandal, phthalate plasticizers, especially dioctyl phthalate (DOP), have been widely discredited and their uses has been restricted. On the other hand, non-phthalate plasticizers, including epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO), epoxy fatty acid methyl esters, citric acid esters, glyceryl esters, and starch plasticizers, have developed rapidly and gained part of market share of phthalate plasticizers. The varieties of plasticizers become diversified.
   At the “2012 Green Plasticizer Development Forum" organized by the China National Chemical Information Center, experts from domestic and foreign research institutions as well as leading plasticizer producers discussed the applications and future prospects of phthalate and new plasticizers. Many in the industry believe that with the varieties of plasticizers becoming diversified, problems such as good and bad products mixed together and disorder in applications have come out. Hence, the industry urgently needs standards, laws and regulations to be imposed.

I. New products boom, diversifying plasticizer market.

According to statistics, China’s plasticizer production capacity is approximately 4.5 million t/a, about 35% of global capacity. Phthalate plasticizers still account for 80% of the country's total capacity of plasticizers. Other than the 110 000 t/a phthalate plasticizer project of Tianjin Jinyuantai Chemical Co., Ltd, almost all new capacity under construction or planned for construction in the last two years are non-phthalate plasticizers. Those projects include an ESBO unit of Hairma Chemical (JS) Ltd, an epoxy unit of Jiangsu Kart New Energy Source Co., Ltd, a citric acid esters unit of Jiangsu Lemon Chemical & Technology Co., Ltd., an epoxy unit of Anhui Tianyi Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. Moreover, of Chaohu Xiangfeng Plastic Aids Co., Ltd, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation and Shandong Chenxi Group are planning to expand their capabilities to make many non-phthalate plasticizer varieties, or have already started to expand. After the completion of all these projects, the newly-constructed production capacity of non-phthalate plasticizers is expected to reach more than 700 000 t/a, much higher than that of phthalate plasticizers.
   It is estimated that in the next few years, new plasticizer production capacity will be mainly for non-phthalate varieties. By then, phthalate and non-phthalate plasticizers will compete more intensely in the downstream market.
   In addition to the ban on using phthalate plasticizers in export products, non-phthalate plasticizers are now developing rapidly mainly because of their obvious advantage in market price compared to phthalate plasticizers. Affected by low domestic production and rationing of upstream materials including butanol, octanol and o-xylene, and the restriction of upstream petrochemical enterprises and importers, the phthalate plasticizer market has been distorted for a long time. Makers of phthalate plasticizers fail to adjust their prices promptly and rationally in response to the market.
   Traditional plasticizers will still dominant for some time. Experts and scholars from leading companies and research institutions agreed that no new plasticizer can compete with traditional phthalate plasticizers in comprehensive indexes such as price and performance. New non-phthalate plasticizers can only be used in some special field as an alternative to phthalate plasticizers. Excellent price-performance ensures that phthalate plasticizers will dominate for a quite long time and may never be replaced entirely.

II. Product standards need to be issued urgently

With the gradual opening up of downstream application opportunities, non-phthalate plasticizers have already caused some problems along with their rapid development. Some small manufacturers cannot assure the quality of their products. The market is rife with both good and bad products and users are confused. Moreover, the relatively low price of some new products also seriously disrupts the market.
   The main reason for the disorder is the absence of relevant product standards. According to the National Technical Committee 35 on Rubber & Products, under the National Rubber Standardization Committee’s Chemical Additives Branch, 15 national standards and 13 industrial standards of plasticizers are in place, mainly focusing on phthalates and chlorinated paraffin plasticizers. In 2010, additional industrial standards were proposed to cover epoxy fatty acid methyl ester, ESBO and tributyl citrate and acetyl tributyl citrate plasticizer, and drafts are now being prepared by plasticizer enterprises. However, it takes time to make them effective. Considering that non-phthalate plasticizers are currently developing rapidly, these standards must be promulgated promptly to regulate the market.

III. Application fields need to be specified.

The main downstream applications of plasticizers are in PVC soft plastic products such as wire and cable materials, films, artificial leather, hoses and plastic shoes. With the diversity of plasticizers, the selection of a plasticizer by downstream enterprises is affected by many factors, price being prominent. The industry has proposed that plasticizer producers and downstream users need closer cooperation.
Meanwhile, China should invest more in R&D, establish a scientific evaluation system for toxicity and toxicology of plasticizers, create national plasticizer standards for various industries that use plasticizers, and promote rational use of plasticizers.