Epichlorohydrin (ECH) is a fairly versatile intermediate chemical usually manufactured by condensing epichlorohydrin with bisphenol A. Production of epoxy resins is the largest downstream market for ECH. Today epoxy resins are mainly used in the production of coatings (43%) and electrical and electronics applications (35%); other end use sectors of epoxy resins include adhesives, flooring and paving applications. ECH is also employed in textiles, papers, inks, dyes, ion exchange resins, surface active agents, epichlorohydrin-based rubbers, plasticizers, agricultural biologically active compounds (used in insecticides, bactericides and fungicides) and other products.
Epichlorohydrin: structure of the global consumption (2014)
The ECH market is governed by interplay of various factors, including shifts in downstream and upstream markets, seasonality, ecological standards, innovation in manufacturing technologies, currency fluctuations, to name only a few. For example, the current uncertain situation in China (which affects Chinese ECH exports), decrease in feedstock prices and weakening of European currency may improve the position of European ECH manufactures. Innovative production technologies, another factor affecting ECH market, are also on the rise. The importance of this factor may be exemplified by bio-based ECH. The chemistry of producing ECH from glycerol has been known since 1906, but only now the innovative technology of producing bio-based ECH under the tradename Epicerol® from renewable glycerol, developed and patented by Solvay, has gained large popularity. As a matter of fact, Solvay’s ECH capacities are located in Map Ta Phut (Thailand), Rheinberg (Germany) and Tavaux (France). Solvay’s Epicerol is already contained in various products of other companies, for instance in the AkzoNobel’s resins used for coatings products. By 2016, AkzoNobel aims to source 20 percent of its total ECH demand as bio-based material. This actually confirms that green chemicals stop being regarded as niche products and become a mainstream. Availability of renewable glycerol feedstock and issues associated with ECH competitive products (e.g. formaldehyde-based resins derived from non-renewable resources) open up excellent prospects for biobased ECH. This trend will be backed by multiple concerns and challenges related to the use of formaldehyde-based resins in adhesives applied in wood product industry. Other companies have already followed Solvay’s pioneering activities and have unveiled bio-based ECH production.
More information on the epichlorohydrin (ECH) market can be found in the in-demand research study “Epichlorohydrin (ECH) 2016 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2019”.