Demand for Higher Fatty Amines Runs High   

Development of Pesticide and Pharmaceutical Industries Opens Opportunities to Fatty Amines
By Ouyang Gaoshan

Higher fatty amines (C2-C8) fatty amines are important fine chemical intermediates. Each type of fatty amine has its own range of applications, but generally, they are used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, food additives, feed additives, water treatment chemicals, rubber chemicals, etc. Normally, C2-C8 fatty amines are synthesized from the corresponding fatty alcohols by reaction with ammonia.


Global consumption

At the end of 2010, the main global producers of C2-C8 fatty amines were Taminco (Belgium), BASF(Germany), Cytec (USA), AkzoNobel, Zhejiang Xinhua Chemical Co. Ltd, Zhejiang Jianye Chemical Co. Ltd, etc. The global consumption of C2-C8 fatty amines in 2010 was 951 300 tons, with C2, C3, C6 and ethylene polyamine accounting for 16%, 19%, 16% and 39% of the total, respectively. China hosts about 41% of the world's production capacity for C2; 42% for C3; and 52% for C6 fatty amines. However, only 8% of the ethylene polyamine capacity is located in China.


Analysis of supply and demand situation in China

Leading providers of C2-C8 fatty amines in China include Zhejiang Xinhua Chemical Co. Ltd, Zhejiang Jianye Chemical Co. Ltd, Jintian Enterprises (Nanjing) Co., Ltd, etc. Since C2-C8 fatty amines contain many varieties, each of the abovementioned three main producers has superior products. For example, Zhejiang Xinhua has advantages in producing isopropylamine; Zhejian Jianye is an expert in production of ethylamine; Nanjing Jintian is leading in the production of cyclohexylamine. The domestic market shares in 2010 of these three leading providers are listed in Table 1.
    The domestic consumption of C2-C8 fatty amines in 2010 was about 270 000 tons, 90% of which was C2, C3, C6 fatty amines and ethylene polyamines - accounting for 22%, 17%, 21% and 30%, respectively.

Table 1  2010 domestic market share of C2-C8 fatty amines provider in China
Company name    Sales in China (thousand tons)     Market share / %
Zhejiang Xinhua    67.5    25.0
Zhejiang Jianye    52.0    19.3
Nanjing Jintian    20.0    7.4

C2 fatty amines

China's main consumers of C2 fatty amines are the producers of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. They are also used as synthetic rubber additives. Pesticide makers are estimated to account for over 70% of the total consumption.

C3 fatty amines

Among the most important C3 fatty amines are n-propylamine, di-n-propylamine, tri-n-propylamine, isopropylamine, diisopropylamine.  The n-propylamine is mainly used in the synthesizing of pesticides and pharmaceuticals. It can also be used as a finish for fibers and textiles. The di-n-propylamine has the largest production among all the n-propylamines. It is mainly used to produce dinitroaniline and carbamate herbicides. Trifluralin and oryzalin are dinitroaniline-based herbicides. Eptam is a carbamate herbicide . In Western Europe, 90% solution of di-n-propylamine is used in the production of trifluralin and eptam. Di-n-propylamine can also be used in pharmaceutical syntheses. Tri-n-propylamine can be used to produce ammonium salts and phosphonium salts for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and anticorrosive agents. Isopropylamine is an important organic chemical raw material to produce pesticides (e.g. atrazine herbicide, glyphosate-isopropylammonium), pharmaceuticals (e.g. diisopropylamine dichloroacetate), dye intermediates, rubber accelerator, hard water treatment agents and surfactants. Among these applications, the manufacture of pesticides uses the most, accounting for 90%. Diisopropylamine is an organic synthetic intermediate, and can also be used as a catalyst.
    The main use of C3 fatty amines in China is in making isopropylamine, mainly used in areas such as glyphosate-isopropylammonium (41% and 62% two formulation type), atrazine, bentazone, rubber, and pharmaceuticals, etc. Among these, glyphosate-isopropylammonium and atrazine are top two application fields. With the ban of 10% glyphosate aqueous solution in China, the use of 41% glyphosate-isopropylammonium solution will increase, and thus boost domestic demand of isopropylamine.

C4 fatty amines

Among C4 fatty amines, n-butyl amine has the largest consumption accounting for about 70% of total consumption. Isobutylamine has relatively small consumption. C4 fatty amines are mainly used in the fields of pesticides and rubber additives. They are also used in making pharmaceuticals, solvents, etc.
    
C5 fatty amines

Consumption of C5 fatty amines is relatively small. Global capacity of C5 fatty amines is 10 000 t/a, and the consumption is about 5 000 tons with 2 000 tons used in United States; 1 000 tons in Europe; the remaining 2 000 tons in China. Consumption has been stable since 2007 and will not change much in the foreseeable future. Several trading companies are selling C5 fatty amines in China, but no company is reported to have production equipment. Domestic consumption is around 2 000 tons. The demand is relatively stable and will not grow significantly in the near future.

C6 fatty amines

In China, the cyclohexylamine is mainly used as an accelerator in the production of rubber products and used to produce cyclamates, a type of food additive. China is the world's major producer and supplier of cyclamates. The amount of cyclohexylamine used in producing cyclamates was 12 000 tons in 2010. It is estimated that in the next few years, demand of cyclohexylamine for producing cyclamate will remain at 8%, while that used as a rubber accelerator will stay at 12%.
    N-hexylamine is mainly used as an intermediate in organic synthesis. Its consumption is expected to be stable in the next few years.

C7 fatty amines

In 2010, the global capacity to make C7 fatty amines was 5 000 t/a, and the output and consumption were both around 4 000 tons. The production and consumption levels were relatively stable. In the domestic market, the consumption of C7 fatty amines was about 1 000 tons. Almost all consumption of C7 fatty amines in China relies on imports, except a small amount for scientific research was provided by Beijing Chemical Plant.

C8 fatty amines

In 2010, global capacity of C8 fatty amines was 15 000 t/a, and the output and consumption were both around 12 000 tons. The global production and consumption level is relatively stable. Capacity of C8 fatty amines in China was 6 000 t/a, the output and consumption were about 5 000 tons. The demand has risen steadily in recent years. With the increase of domestic demand, production technology of n-octylamine in China is strongly competitive.

Ethylene polyamine

Since the late 1980s, over 30 small and medium-sized production units have been set up in China. Most of them have a capacity of around several hundred tons per year, and investors hoped they would fulfill the demands in the fields of pharmaceuticals and pesticides. However, it turns out that they operate at low rates and are not competitive with foreign producers due to their small scale, inferior technology, high consumption in energy and raw materials, and high production cost. In addition, several imported units were shut down because of high resource consumption. Production of ethylene polyamine cannot keep pace with the demand in domestic market, so domestic consumption mainly depends on imports. The manufacture of ethanediamine consumes more than making all the other ethylene polyamines, accounting for ab