Readjustment of Pentaerythritol Product Portfolio Needs
Speeding up

By Li Guangwei

Pentaerythritol is an important raw material for the petroleum
industry, the chemical industry and the light industry. It is
extensively used in the synthesis of alkyd resin, lube oils,
rosin esters and pentaerythritol nitrate. It can also replace
glycerin to produce polyester polyols and polyether polyols.

Rapid development of production

With the rapid market demand growth in downstream products since
the 1990s, the pentaerythritol production has developed rapidly.
Both the capacity and the output have increased rapidly and the
production scale and the production technology have also
achieved considerable progress.
   China has nearly 30 pentaerythritol producers today.
Producers with a capacity of over 10 thousand t/a include Hubei
Yihua Group Co., Ltd., Baoding Chemical Raw Material Plant,
Hengyang Sanhua Industrial Co., Ltd., Liyang Ruiyang Chemical
Co., Ltd., Yuntianhua Group Co., Ltd. and Henan Puyang Methanol
Plant. Hubei Yihua Group Co., Ltd. has a pentaerythritol
capacity of 60 thousand t/a and is the leading pentaerythritol
producer in the world.
   The capacity of pentaerythritol in China was 80 thousand t/a
in 2000 and the output was 35 thousand tons. The capacity reached
200 thousand t/a in 2005 and the output reached 145.8 thousand
tons, the average annual growth being 20.1% and 33.1%.
   Pentaerythritol produced in China is mainly the
industrial-grade variety. Hubei Yihua Group Co., Ltd.
introduced the high-purity pentaerythritol production
technology from Korea in 2002 and has already acquired a capacity
of 10 thousand t/a. Liyang Ruiyang Chemical Co., Ltd. has
constructed a 3.5 thousand t/a high-purity pentaerythritol
production line with its own technology. Yuntianhua Group Co.,
Ltd. has introduced a complete pentaerythritol unit from
Eurotecnica of Italy. The unit uses the low-temperature sodium
continuous production process and can produce several product
varieties with a purity of 96% - 99% and stable product quality.

Downstream consumption based on alkyd resin

Pentaerythritol in China is mainly used to produce alkyd resin
and also has applications in polyurethane, rosin ester, lube oil,
surfactant, plasticizer, pharmaceutical and explosive sectors.

Alkyd resin: Alkyd resin synthesized with pentaerythritol as raw
material has the features of fast drying, great hardness, good
gloss and no color fading. The consumption of pentaerythritol
in this sector was 82.9 thousand tons in 2005. China has become
a major producer of coatings in the world. The coatings industry
in China, the two major coatings production bases in the Pearl
River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta in particular, has
conducted distribution readjustment and started to develop
towards high-grade, environmental friendly and specialized
products. Many coatings producers use both imported
pentaerythritol and domestic pentaerythritol to produce
high-grade paints. With the readjustment of the coatings
industry and the rapid development of the automobile industry
and the construction industry, the consumption of
pentaerythritol in the alkyd resin production has increased
constantly. It is expected that the demand of pentaerythritol
in this sector will maintain an average annual growth of 8% -
10% and reach 120 thousand tons in 2010.

Polyurethane: Pentaerythritol can be used as glycerin
substitute in the production of polyether polyols and polyester
polyols to further produce polyurethane foams. The polyurethane
industry in China has developed rapidly in recent years.
Glycerin also has a supply deficit in both domestic and overseas
markets. The consumption of pentaerythritol in the polyurethane
industry was 8.9 thousand tons in 2005 and is expected to reach
17 thousand tons in 2010.

Lube oil: Pentaerythritol reacts with C5 - C10 aliphatic acid
to produce aliphatic ester for the use in the synthesis of
high-grade lube oil with high-temperature resistance. Such lube
oil is mostly used in the lubrication of jet plane engines. There
is already a considerable output in China. It is mainly used in
military planes. Civil planes mostly use imported lube oil.
Pentaerythritol aliphatic ester is also a plasticizer with
high-temperature resistance and excellent property used in the
production of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) electric cables with
high-temperature resistance and great insulation. The
consumption of pentaerythritol in this sector was 7.7 thousand
tons in 2005. With greater efforts made in development, the
demand will increase rapidly in the next few years. It is
expected that the demand of pentaerythritol in the lube oil
sector will reach 18 thousand tons in 2010.

Rosin ester: Pentaerythritol rosin ester is mainly used to
produce coatings, paper, adhesives, rubber auxiliaries and inks.
The consumption of pentaerythritol in the rosin ester sector was
7.7 thousand tons in 2005. As these products are developing
vigorously and more high-grade varieties are being produced, the
demand of pentaerythritol will increase rapidly. It is expected
that the demand of pentaerythritol in the rosin ester sector will
reach 15 thousand tons in 2010.

Others: Pentaerythritol is also used in pharmaceutical,
pesticide and daily-use chemical sectors. The in-depth
processing of pentaerythritol is robust in China. Processed
products include chlorinated polyether, surfactants,
intermediates for epoxy cross-linking agents, PVC stabilizers,
oiling agents for synthetic fiber spinning, steel rolling fluids
for steel making, drugs for cardiovascular diseases, olefin
antioxidants, pentaerythritol triacrylate and explosive raw
material pentaerythritol tetranitrate. The consumption of
pentaerythritol in other sectors was 20.4 thousand tons in 2005.
These sectors will all maintain a trend of stable growth in
future. It is expected that the consumption of pentaerythritol
in other sectors will reach 30 thousand tons in 2010.
    The total demand of pentaerythritol in China will therefore
reach around 200 thousand tons in 2010. The consumption
proportion will go down for the alkyd resin sector and go up for
the lube oil, rosin ester and polyurethane sectors. Requirements
on the quality of pentaerythritol in these sectors are higher
than that in the alkyd resin sector. The pentaerythritol market
in China has a bright prospect, but higher requirements have been
raised on product quality and variety. It is therefore
imperative to speed up the readjustment to product quality and
variety to meet the needs in the fast-growing domestic market.

Supply and Demand of Pentaerythritol in China  
                       in Recent Years
                  (thousand tons)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Apparent consumption
2000    35.0    6.8     0.2     41.6
2001    39.8    10.7    0.3     50.2
2002    51.0    9.8     0.1     60.7