Pentaerythritol Production,Consumption and
                      Market Analysis
                        By He Yang
Pentaerythritol is an important  organic  chemical  product
extensively used in coatings,light industry,  automobiles,
building sectors and synthetic resins. Its applications in
China mainly include alkyd resin coatings, synthetic  lube
oil,  abietates,   tall  oil  esters  and  trinitrol.   It
sometimes replaces glycerin, especially in the  production
of polyester polyol and polyether polyol. Besides, it  can
  also  be  used  as  raw  material  for  pharmaceuticals,
pesticides and explosives.
1. Production
The total output of pentaerythritol in the world is  around
600 000 tons, and major producing  countries  include  the
Untied States, Germany and Japan. China started to produce
the chemical in 1957, and the output at that time was only
20 tons. The development  of  the  chemical  industry  has
brought about an output increase. The output  was  13  971
tons 1986, a rise of over  32  times  over  1970  and  the
average annual growth rate in the 16 years  being  24. 5%.
The output had a reduction in 1987 and 1988, recovered  in
1989 and reached 14 400 tons in 1994 and 35  000  tons  in
1995. The operating rate in 1995 was 53%.
The production of pentaerythritol in  China  has  developed
fast in the recent years. There are more than 30 producers
with a capacity of 60 000 t/a.  However,   due  to  a  low
operating rate, the output was only around  30  000  tons.
Table 1 shows the major pentaerythritol producers in China
.
China started to export pentaerythritol in  the  mid- 70's,
but the export amount has been very small. Table  2  shows
the import and export of pentaerythritol in China  in  the
recent years.
2. Consumption
The development of the chemical industry  and  the  coating
  industry  has  led  to  an  increasing   consumption   of
pentaerythritol in China. The consumption was 419 tons  in
1970, 5 400 tons in 1980 and 23 100  tons  in  1993.   The
consumption in 1993 was 3.3 times higher than  1980,   the
average annual growth rate in the 13 years being 12%. More
application fields of pentaerythritol can be developed and
pentaerythritol has  bright  market  prospects  in  China.
  Table  3  shows  the  consumption  structure  and  demand
projection of pentaerythritol in China.
3. Market analysis
With the rapid development of  the  chemical  industry  and
related industries in the recent  years,   the  demand  of
pentaerythritol is  increasing  fast.   The  brisk  market
demand and the price rise  of  raw  material  formaldehyde
have led to a price rise of pentaerythritol. Table 4 shows
the price change of pentaerythritol in China in the recent
years.
There is a shortage of  pentaery thritol in  China.   Hubei
Xuanhua Co., Ltd. is constructing a 3 000 t/a unit.  Henan
Puyang Petrochemical Corporation is constructing a  5  000
t/a. Project proposal and feasibility study are also being
prepared in Shanghai and Hengyang. After the completion of
all these units, the capacity of pentaerythritol in  China
can reach  70  000  t/a,   and  the  domestic  demand  can
basically be satisfied.
Table 1   Major Pentaerythritol Producers in China      (t/a)
------------------------------------------------------------
        Producer                                 Capacity
---------------------------------------------------------
Hengyang Sanhua Industrial Co., Ltd.            10 000
Beijing No. 3 Chemical Plant                     7 000
Changsong Chemical Plant of
      Jilin Chemical Industrial Corp.             5 000
Calcium Carbide Plant of Juhua Group             5 000
Guizhou Organic Chemical Plant                   2 000
Qingdao No. 2 Chemical Plant                     3 000
Xiangtan Synthetic Chemical Plant                2 000
Xuzhou Solvent Plant                             2 000
Liaohe Oilfield                                  5 000
------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2  Import and Export of Pentaerythritol in  China  in
               the Recent Years                      (t)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Year            Import amount                Export amount
-----------------------------------------------------------
1993                 20 126                          17
1994