Chemicals through 2017.” “As
a result, bio-based material and
chemical manufacturers contin-
ue to expand and diversify into
new feedstock types, product types, and
geographical areas.”
Lux Research analysts analyzed 229
sites from 217 companies, and 133 chem-
icals and classes like succinic acid and
polyols in seven main product categories
and 22 subcategories.
Among their findings:
• Specialty chemicals like farnesene
will grow at a compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 46 percent between now
and 2017.
• North America ranks fourth in
global capacity, but will become a leader
by 2017 as American start-ups like Gevo
build plants closer to home. Europe’s
share of global capacity will drop from
37 percent in 2005 to 14 percent in 2017.
• Cellulosic feedstocks struggle. First-generation sugar/starch feedstocks – such
as corn and sugarcane – will remain the
dominant bio-based source. Cellulosic
feedstocks will grow relatively slowly,
and the rise of new sources like bio-oils
and waste gas will help lower cellulosics’
share from 67 percent to 27 percent.
The report, titled “Cultivating
Capacity for Bio-based Materials and
Chemicals through 2017,” is part of the
Lux Research Bio-based Materials and
Chemicals Intelligence service.
Asia-Pacific Remains Major
PTFE Market for Coatings
and Inks
Polytetrafluoroethylene accounts for
the major share of fluoropolymer mar-
ket. PTFE is the linear homopolymer of
TFE with a repeat unit and is made by
polymerizing TFE in water using free
radical initiators. The PTFE market is
experiencing huge growth which is ex-
pected to continue in the near future,
driven by the highly growing Asia-Pacific
region and intense focus towards indus-
trial expansions, according to a report
from Marketandmarkets. A significant
amount of investments are made by vari-
ous market players in order to be pre-
pared to serve the high potential ones
in future. Asia-Pacific is the major PTFE
The industrial goods were the single-
largest application of PTFE, with a mar-
ket share of nearly 49. 7 percent of the
total demand in 2012. Budding demand
for modified PTFE and expanded PTFE
is pushing the demand for PTFE at a no-
table pace. Filled PTFE is comparatively
consuming less quantity of PTFE but the
growth in demand is anticipated to be
significant due to increasing penetration
of Filled PTFE applications in various
end user industries.
The market is further segmented and
projected for major regions such as Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, and
ROW, which is further segmented for
key countries in each region. They have
used various secondary sources such as
encyclopedia, directories, and databases
to identify and collect information useful
for this extensive commercial study of the
PTFE market. The primary sources, experts from related industries and suppliers–have been interviewed to obtain and
verify critical information as well as to
assess the future prospects of PTFE.
Competitive scenarios of top players
in the PTFE market have been discussed
in detail. We have also profiled leading
players of this industry with their recent
developments and other strategic industry activities. These include: Dongyue
Group Ltd. (China), E.I. Dupont de
Nemours and Company (U.S.), Gujarat
Fluorochemicals Ltd. (India), Asahi
Glass Co. Ltd. (Japan), HaloPolymer
and OJSC (Russia).
Ceresana Reports Global
Demand for Butanol
Increased
Butanol and its derivatives are important
ingredients of many paints and varnishes.
While the use of solvent has, in general, declined due to a shift towards water-borne
paints and varnishes, products based on
butanol can also be used as coupling agent
in water-borne formulations. Global demand for butanol raised by, on average,
2. 7 percent p.a. between 2005 and 2013.
Butanol is a higher alcohol that is
mainly produced through oxo-synthesis
of propylene. Almost 12 percent of total
global butanol output is directly used as
solvent. The largest share, amounting to
almost 1. 5 million tons in 2013, however,
is consumed in manufacturing acrylate,
which is used in water-borne paints but
also detergents, adhesives, and textiles.
The second most important application is
the production of acetate, which is used
as solvent in automotive coatings or as ingredient in a range of cosmetics and pharmaceutical drugs. Glycol ethers based on
butanol are highly suitable for the use as
solvent in water-borne varnishes, given
their miscibility with water. Also, phthalates manufactured from butanol are playing an important role as plasticizer in the
processing of PVC.
Besides the commercial use of butanol in chemical applications, this
alcohol is also deemed to offer significant potential for the biofuel industry.
Already existing and progressing technologies to produce biobutanol by the
fermentation of biomass are increasingly becoming the center of attention.
Butanol offers a range of advantages
when compared to conventional biofuel made from ethanol: Butanol has
higher energy content and is easily
miscible with diesel and gasoline. In
addition, it can be combusted in conventional Otto-cycle engines without
modifying the engine. Bioethanol,
however, already is an established biofuel in Europe and North America, and
a changeover of production facilities
to manufacture biobutanol would be
expensive. Another possibility is converting the bioethanol that is being
produced into butanol. Adequate technologies, however, are still in the initial
stages of development.
In 2013, Chinese processors consumed about the same amount of butanol as Western Europe and North
America taken together. Ceresana forecasts demand for butanol on the saturated markets of Western Europe and
North America to increase by only
0.4% and 0.5% p.a. respectively until
2021. As development in industrialized
Asian countries such as Japan will falter
