Ethylene Amines Have Promising Market Prospects in China   

By Wang Chen, China National Chemical Information Center

Ethylene amines refer to acyclic polymer products of ethylenediamine, such as ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine, tetraethylene pentamine and pentaethylene hexamine, as well as ring amines, such as piperazine, aminoethyl piperazine, hydroxyethyl piperazine, etc. (polymers of higher than diethylenetriamine are referred to as polyethylene polyamines). Major ethylene amines and their properties are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Major ethylene amines and their properties
Name    Abbr. name    CAS No.    Molecular weight    Melting Point/degree Celsius Boiling Point/degree Celsius                                                                                                                                                                        
Ethylenediamine    EDA    107-15-3    60.1    10.8    116.9
Diethylenetriamine    DETA    111-40-0    103.2    -39    206.7
Triethylene tetramine    TETA    112-24-3    146.2    <-40    277.4
Tetraethylene pentamine    TEPA    112-57-2    189.2    <-40    340.0
Piperazine    PIP    110-85-0    86.1    109.6    148.5
Aminoethyl piperazine    AEP    140-31-8    129.2    -17.6    222.0


1. Consumption grows rapidly

In China, the consumption of ethylene amines reached 53 000 tons in 2007 and 97 000 tons in 2010, having an annual growth rate of 22.3% from 2007 to 2010. It is expected to reach 115 000 tons in 2011 and 171 000 tons in 2014, having an average annual growth rate of 15.2% in 2011-2014.
   In China, the output of ethylene amines cannot yet meet the domestic market demand, which is mainly met with imports. Among the ethylene amine series products, the most demanded one is ethylenediamine. The overall supply and demand of ethylene amines in China are shown in Table 2. The supply and demand of ethylenediamine are listed in Table 3, and the supply and demand of polyethylene polyamines are shown in table 4.
   In the next two to three years, the consumption of ethylenediamine in China will grow 8.2% annually, and the consumption of polyethylene polyamines will grow 7.7% annually.
Table 2  Supply and demand of ethylene amines in China  (kt)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Consumption
2008    5    67    24    48
2009    5    76    17    64
2010    10    87    0    97

Table 3 Supply and demand of ethylenediamine in China (kt)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Consumption
2008    0    44    1    43
2009    0    46    1    45
2010    4    53    0    57

Table 4  Supply and demand of polyethylene polyamines in China (kt)
Year    Output    Import    Export    Consumption
2008    0    23    19    4
2009    0    30    14    16
2010    1    34    0    35


2. Capacity increases fast

By raw material, the production technology of ethylene amines is divided into the ethylene dichloride (EDC) process and the monoethanolamine (MEA) process. Both are relatively mature processes. In other countries, the EDC process accounts for 50% - 60% of the ethylene amines capacity, and the MEA process accounts for 40% to 50%. But in China, the MEA process occupies a share of 78%, and the EDC process 22%.
   The production of ethylene amines in China started relatively late. In the late 1980s, several small and mid-sized ethylene amines plants were built in China. At the peak times, the number of such plants was as high as 30. Most of them had an annual output ranging from several hundred tons to several thousand tons, and their products were mainly used for production of pharmaceuticals and pesticides. As they featured a small production scale, low technical level and high raw material and energy consumption, their products had high production costs and were unable to compete with imported products. Since 2007, their operating rate has maintained at a relatively low level.
   In September 2010, Jiangxi Hurricane Chemical Co Ltd built China's first 10 000 t/a ethylene amines plant and put it into operation. In early 2011, AkzoNobel built a 35 000 t/a ethylene amines plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province and also put it into operation. In the end of 2011, BASF-YPC Ltd built a 35 000 t/a ethylene amines plant in Nanjing and also put it into operation. Major existing producers of ethylene amines in China are listed in Table 5, and ethylene amines projects under construction or planning in the country are shown in Table 6.

Table 5 Major existing producers of ethylene amines in China
Producer    Capacity (kt/a)    Remarks
Jiangxi Hurricane Chemical Co Ltd    10    A joint venture between South Korea's Aekyung Marine Chemistry Ltd (60%) and Jiangxi Hurricane Group (40%), using the EDC process. The first-phase project was put into operation in September 2010. The second-phase 10 000 t/a plant will be put into operation in 2012. The whole project will have a total planned capacity of 50 000 t/a.

AkzoNobel    35    The project uses the MEA process, and is 100% owned by AkzoNobel.
BASF-YPC Ltd    35    The project uses the MEA process and was put into operat