China's Demand for Pyridines to Grow 9% Annually   
By Shen Guiying, China National Chemical Information Centre

1  Domestic Consumption Growth
Through chlorination, fluorination, ammoxidation, etc., pyridines can be made into various intermediates, which are widely used in the field of fine chemicals. Among the pyridines, pyridine and 3-methy1 pyridine are most in demand, accounting for 86% of the total domestic consumption. In 2011, China consumed 45 000 tons of pyridine, up 18.4% compared with 38 000 tons in 2010, and consumed 20 000 tons of 3-methyl pyridine, up 18.3% based from 16 900 tons in 2010.
   In China, pyridine and alkyl pyridine are mainly used in agricultural chemicals, pharmaceutical chemicals, food and feed additives, daily chemicals, dyes, etc. In 2009, China-consumed pyridine and alkyl pyridine totaled approximately 48 700 tons, of which 52% was used in making agricultural chemicals, 22% was consumed by pharmaceutical makers, and 20% was used as a food or feed additive. In 2010, China absorbed approximately 56 500 tons of pyridine and alkyl pyridine, and the abovementioned three percentages changed to 45%, 23% and 21%.
   In the pharmaceutical industry, pyridine and alkyl pyridine are used in the synthesis of over 50 drugs, including antitumor drugs, penicillin, vasodilators, nicotinate, inositol hexanicotinate, mannitol nicotinate, nikethamide, norfloxacin, dexamethasone, acetylspiramycin, sulfonamides, pentadecyl pyridinium bromide, omeprazole, lansoprazole, cortisone etc. Niacin and niacinamide which are synthesized from 3-methyl pyridine can be used in either pharmaceutical chemicals or food & feed additives.


2  Insufficient Supply in China's Market
In recent years, China has strong requirements on both pyridine and its salts. Both are imported in increasing volumes. In 2010, China imported 21 404 tons of pyridine and its salts, up 10.5% YOY, and exported 1 954 tons of such products, down 26.7% YOY. While in 2011, the import amount slid 19.8% YOY to 17 164 tons, and the export amount grew 66.9% YOY to 3 262 tons.
   From 2002 to 2010, the import amount of pyridine and its salts grew continuously due to increasing demand from enterprises engaged in the production of paraquat, diquat, chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, etc., and to sustained growth in pesticides' exports. But in 2006, benefiting from new technologies, China's pyridines and down-stream products developed rapidly, making the import decline slightly. However, from that year, driven by the down-stream industry, the imported pyridine and its salts reached record high in both the import amount and value in 2008. In 2009, the import and export volumes fell off again because of the financial crisis, but they resumed rapid growth in 2010. In 2011, the import volume decreased to the level of 2007, while the export volume soared year on year. Import/export volume and value of China's pyridine and its salts from 2002 to 2011 are shown in table 1.

Table 1  Import and Export of China's Pyridine and its Salts  (tons, thousand US$)
Year    Import Amount    Import Value    Export Amount    Export Value
2002    7928    2466    1629    1580
2003    8922    2889    2559    1891
2004    11669    3549    2158    1768
2005    11685    4727    1678    1586
2006    10193    4876    2977    2785
2007    16751    9347    2328    2734
2008    20269    11038    4223    3759
2009    19371    7352    2665    4035
2010    21404    7414    1954    4075
2011    17164    6240    3262    3804

3  China's Market Prices Gradually Down
To a great extent, China's pyridines prices change with supply and demand. Since 2008, with new plants for pyridine going into production, the plant operating rate has slid year by year, and the prices had also decreased to around RMB30 000/t by the end of 2010.
    According to statistics of China National Chemical Information Weekly, prices of China's 3-methyl pyridine were relatively stable in 2011, fluctuating around RMB36 000/t. At the end of that year, the prices increased slightly to RMB40 000/t.

4  China's Production Capacity Grew
Eight domestic enterprises are engaged in the production of pyridine and alkyl pyridine. China's largest pyridine and alkyl pyridine manufacturer, Red Sun Group Limited owns proprietary intellectual property rights and operates plants in Jiangsu and Anhui. Vertellus (Nantong) Co., Ltd. was the first to manufacture pyridine products in China and established a join venture with Nantong Acetic Acid Chemical Co., Ltd (NAAC). NAAC-held shares of the joint venture were purchased by Nantong Vertellus at the end of 2010. Shandong Lvba Chemicals Co., Ltd. is another enterprise in normal production. Tangshan Chenhong Industrial Co., Ltd., Weifang Oliver Green Chemical Co., Ltd. and Hubei Sanonda Co., Ltd. gradually finished the equipment installation in 2011, and are currently in the trial production period. The abovementioned six enterprises all rely on formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology to produce their major products, pyridine and 3-methyl pyridine. With acetylene-acetonitrile technology, Henan Xinxiang Hengji Chemical Co., Ltd. and Henan Xinxiang Boke Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. produce 2-methyl pyridine, mainly for adhesives. China's main pyridine product manufacturers are shown in table 2.
Table 2  China's Main Pyridines Manufacturers  (kt/a)
Company    Capacity, Location    Remarks

Red Sun    1.2, Nanjing, Jiangsu    Startup 2006, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia Technology
Red Sun    2.5, Dangtu, Anhui    Startup 2010, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Vertellus    2.2, Nantong, Jiangsu    Startup 2001, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Lvba    1, Weifang, Shandong    Startup 2009, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Chenhong    1, Tangshan, Hebei    Startup May 2011, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Oliver Green    1, Weifang, Shandong    Startup May 2011, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Sanonda    1, Jingzhou, Hubei    Startup October 2011, Formaldehyde-acetaldehyde-ammonia technology

Hengji    1, Xinxiang, Henan    Two Production Lines, Ethyne-acetonitrile technology
Boke    0.5, Xinxiang, Henan    Startup 2006, Ethyne-acetonitrile technology

5  Future Demand Predicted to Grow 9% Annually
With the development of its economy, China's demand for pyridine and related products grew rapidly. On the one hand, due to the increasing demand of China's agricultural materials market, domestic enterprises engaged in the production of herbicides and insecticides have required more pyridine in recent years; on the other hand, China's pharmaceutical and daily chemical industries consumed much greater quantities of pyridine-related products than before; furthermore, the domestic market has large requirements on industrial chemicals such as butadiene-vinylpyridine copolymer latex, vinylpyridine, etc. Facing large demand, China's pyridine market has been in short supply, and therefore has to import in a great quantity each year. The total consumption of pyridine-related products is predicted to be 73 000 tons in 2015, with an annual growth rate of 7% in future years.
   China has realized the industrialization for producing pyridine. However, capable enterprises manufacture the pyridine for export, self-use, or directional supply to other manufacturers, but seldom for satisfying the domestic pyridine market. Therefore, the domestic supply falls far short of meeting the demand, so imports are required each year.