The operating rate of the pivalic acid industry is extremely low, and the gap between market supply and demand continues to expand.

Pivalic acid, also known as pivalic acid, is an important chemical raw material and reagent. Pivalic acid has a special structure. Its tertiary carbon atoms and carbon groups are connected to form a stable structure. Therefore, pivalic acid exhibits special physical and chemical properties and can be used as an organic intermediate and fine chemicals. , currently in high demand in the fields of medicine, pesticides, and dyes. In addition, it can also be used to produce coatings, lubricants, initiators and other products, with high development value.

Due to its special structure, the difficulty of preparing pivalic acid has also been improved. There are currently more than ten production methods of pivalic acid recorded in the literature, but the main methods currently used are the Koch method and the Reppe method. Although there are many methods to synthesize pivalic acid, most of them have complex reaction processes and high production costs, which restrict the industrial development of pivalic acid. Currently, the Koch method is mainly used in industrial production.

The Koch method has three major reaction systems, namely sulfuric acid reaction system, BF3 system, and solid acid catalytic system. Among them, the sulfuric acid reaction system is relatively simple and easy to realize industrial production, but the output of three wastes is high; the BF3 system is currently the mainstream system and has a higher choice. It is chemical-resistant, and the product is easy to recover and recycle, making it suitable for large-scale production. Domestic companies such as Shell and Enjav use this system for production; the solid acid catalytic system can synthesize a variety of important fine chemicals and is a system with great development prospects.

According to the released “China Pivalic Acid Project Investment Feasibility Research Report 2021-2025”, there are currently domestic companies that have achieved Pivalic acid production, such as Hebei Xuanhua, Tianjin Siyou and other enterprises, and raw materials are no longer dependent on imports, which is conducive to the continued increase of pivalic acid production capacity in the future. However, due to production technology limitations, the current domestic production cost of pivalic acid is relatively high, and the product is weakly competitive in the market, resulting in a low overall operating rate of the industry. There will be few new projects in the short term. It is expected that by 2023, my country’s pivalic acid The production capacity is about 50,000 tons.

Domestic pivalic acid is mainly used for domestic demand and also needs to be imported. At present, the consumption of pivalic acid in our country is about 20,000 tons, and the consumption has shown an increasing trend in the past few years. my country’s pivalic acid production capacity is relatively high, but due to environmental factors, most companies are in a long-term shutdown state, and the industry’s operating rate is extremely low. Market demand still needs to be supplemented by imports. It is estimated that by 2023, there will be a supply and demand of about 12,000 tons of pivalic acid market in my country. gap.

Industrial analysts said that due to production process limitations, the cost of pivalic acid in my country is relatively high and does not have a competitive advantage, and in the production process It has caused serious pollution. Therefore, in recent years, most companies have been in a long-term shutdown stage, and the industry’s operating rate is extremely low. In terms of demand, due to the wide application range of pivalic acid and driven by the development of terminal industries, the market demand for pivalic acid has shown a growth trend in recent years. The gap between domestic supply and demand of pivalic acid continues to widen. In the future, it is necessary to increase the industry’s operating rate or rely on Import replenishment.