Increasing demand of surfactant industry

2022-06-20 16:31:41

With the increasing demand of detergent and surfactant industries, the fatty alcohol market is in rapid development. Fatty alcohols are mainly used to produce lubricants, mineral flotation agents and emulsifiers. The market is growing with the rapid development of the food, metal processing, personal care, textile, pharmaceutical, papermaking and agrochemical industries. In addition, the increasing demand for sustainable and biodegradable products has also promoted the development of this market.

Now, as the fatty alcohol market approaches saturation, more manufacturers are turning to the more downstream surfactant industry. Moreover, a shocking change has taken place in the industry recently, that is, some enterprises in Indonesia and Malaysia that were established as planting companies are developing or acquiring surfactant companies in Europe. This in turn will provide a springboard for these enterprises to further penetrate the consumer market.

Europe is expected to become the world's largest fatty alcohol market because the EU has launched the "Horizon Strategy 2020" to promote the production and use of biogenic products. The Asia Pacific region will also continue to promote the development of fatty alcohol market, because the region has a large demand for detergent and cosmetics. With the enhancement of consumers' awareness of health care and the increase of per capita income in China and India, the detergent and cosmetics market in this region will also develop rapidly. The increased availability of palm kernel oil raw materials in Brazil will further promote the development of fatty alcohol market.

There are many ways to classify surfactants, including straight chain, branched chain, aromatic chain, fluorine-containing long chain, etc; According to the hydrophilic group, it can be divided into carboxylate, sulfate, quaternary ammonium salt, PEO derivative, lactone, etc; Some researchers divide them into ionic type and non-ionic type according to the ionic nature of their molecular composition, as well as various classification methods according to their water solubility, chemical structure characteristics, raw material sources and so on. However, many classification methods have their limitations, it is difficult to properly locate surfactants, and there is no overlap in the concept connotation.

It is generally believed that it is appropriate to classify according to its chemical structure. That is, when surfactants are dissolved in water, they can be divided into ionic surfactants and non-ionic surfactants according to whether they generate ions and their electrical properties.