Current Status of Sodium Cyanide Industry in China   

Sodium cyanide is available in two forms - a 30% aqueous solution and 95% to 99% solid briquettes and granules. As an important chemical raw material, sodium cyanide is widely used in machinery, electroplating, mining, chemical synthesis, dyestuff, pharmaceutical, textile and feed industries. And demand for sodium cyanide in the pharmaceutical and dye intermediate industries grows very fast in recent years.

1. Production   

Currently, China mainly uses three processes for sodium cyanide production. The most common one is China's self-developed light oil cracking process. In this process hydrogen cyanide is generated through catalytic cracking of light oil and then absorbed into soda solution to produce sodium cyanide. This technique is adopted by many small and mid-sized enterprises in China.
   The second one is acrylonitrile-byproduct method. This method gets hydrogen cyanide as a bi- or co-product from the production of acrylonitrile and then uses it to produce sodium cyanide.
    The third one involves the reaction of natural gas with ammonia, in the presence of oxygen or air, over precious metal catalysts. This reaction is known as the Andrussow process.
With growing capacity of single acrylonitrile unit, the purity of the byproduct hydrogen cyanide is improved and its cost also drops. As a result, the Acrylonitrile-Byproduct Mechod is now the optimal approach to produce high-purity solid sodium cyanide in China.
    Light oil cracking process has a restrict development prospects due to its high energy consumption. It is mainly used to produce 30%aqueous sodium cyanide solution in China, because its cost is higher than the acrylonitrile by-product process when making solid sodium cyanide.
    The cost of Andrussow process is much higher and, at present, there's only one enterprise namely Shandong Xintai Chemical Group Co., Ltd. in China uses this process to produce solid briquettes and granules.
    China totally has over 10 sodium cyanide manufacturers, which mainly adopt acrylonitrile by-product process or light oil cracking process. In recent years, because of the high cost, those manufacturers globally that adopted Andrussow process generally purify the intermediate hydrogen cyanide to manufacture various fine chemical products, and they only produce a small quantity of aqueous sodium cyanide for self-use. In recent years, price soaring of glyphosate in the international market and the gradual technical maturity of iminodiacetonitrile production from hydrogen cyanide have pushed the development of Andrussow process. In Chongqing and its ambient area, many large-scaled domestic sodium plants adopting Andrussow process are planned.

Top sodium cyanide manufacturers in China   
Name    Production Capacity/ (thousand ton)    process
             Aqueous     solid    
Anhui Shuguang Chemical Group
                200     50    
            Acrylonitrile-byproduct method and light oil cracking process
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical
                -       18    Acrylonitrile-byproduct method
Lanzhou Jinli Chemical Woolen
                -       10    Acrylonitrile-byproduct method
Shandong Xintai Chemical Group
                -       10    Andrussow process
Sichuan Chemical Academy of Natural Gas
                20      -    Andrussow process
Hebei Chengxin Company Limited
                300      -    Light oil cracking process
Degussa Sanzheng Yingkou Fine Chemical
                120     -    Light oil cracking process and for self-use
Shanxi Lingchuan Chemical Plant    
                30      4    Light oil cracking process
Tianjin New Era Chemical
                40      -    Light oil cracking process
Changzhou Pangu Chemical
                30      -    Light oil cracking process
Zibo Weiguang Chemical
                 20      -    Light oil cracking process
Henan Yanshi Tianlong Chemical
                15      5    Light oil cracking process
Source: CNCIC


2. Market    

China's total production capacity of domestic sodium was about 100 000 t/a (100% equivalent) before 2003. The figure reached 355 000 t/a (100% equivalent) in 2008, among which 100 000 t/a was for high-purity solid sodium cyanide.
   The sodium cyanide consumption shares in China are as follows: 40% for chemical industry, 20% for electroplating industry, 8% for pharmaceutical industry, 7% for pesticide industry, 12% for metallurgical industry and 13% for other industries. With the rapid development of gold industry and fine chemical industry in recent years, the consumption proportion of solid sodium cyanide in gold industry keeps increasing, and aqueous sodium cyanide in pesticide and pharmaceutical industry also has a similar situation.
    With rapid economic development and the increasing output of various chemical products, the demand for sodium cyanide is expected to expand, with a growth rate of 7% each year for the high-purity solid sodium cyanide. In 2008, the output of high-purity solid sodium cyanide basically satisfied the demand.
    Before 2003, China imported over 40% of its needs for high-purity solid sodium cyanide. But along with the technical improvement, dramatic drop of costs and considerable improvement in quality, the export of sodium cyanide keeps increasing in recent years.

3. Demand Forecast   

As an important chemical raw material, sodium cyanide plays an irreplaceable role in pharmaceutical, pesticide and dyestuff production. Solid sodium cyanide, especially high-purity solid sodium cyanide, is convenient for long - distance transport and store, endearing itself to downstream enterprises that located far away from hydrogen cyanide resources. It is estimated that the domestic demand for high-purity solid sodium cyanide will