Market overview of 2,3-Butanediol

2,3-Butanediol is a basic organic chemical raw material that has been developing rapidly in recent years. Due to its long carbon chain, polyester or polyurethane materials synthesized from it have more balanced physical properties than polymers made from ethylene glycol or propylene glycol.

Here is the content list:

l Applications

l International production and market situation

l Domestic production and supply/demand situation

Applications

2,3-Butanediol has a wide range of applications and has three main product chains. The production of tetrahydrofuran, which accounts for about 60% of butanediol consumption, and tetrahydrofuran by ring-opening polymerization to produce poly-tetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG), pharmaceutical intermediates or directly as a solvent. The second is the production of Y-butyrolactone, which accounts for about 20% of the consumption of 2,3-Butanediol. r-Butyrolactone is further reacted with acetylene to produce 2-pyrrolidone, vinylpyrrolidone, and polyvinylpyrrolidone. The third is the production of PBT resin used in the home appliance industry and color TV industry, which accounts for about 9% of 2,3-Butanediol consumption. The above 3 major applications have led to a significant increase in the production of butanediol, which has leaped to become an important basic organic chemical product.

International production and market situation

At present, there are 5 industrialized production lines of 2,3-Butanediol in foreign countries as follows. REPPE method with acetylene and formaldehyde as raw materials. Hydrogenation process with maleic anhydride as raw material. Gas-phase hydrogenation process of maleic acid esters. Propylene-based synthesis process, including (i) allyl acetate method; (ii) acrolein method; (iii) allyl ester method. Butadiene as raw material synthesis process, including ①butadiene acetylation method; ②butadiene chlorination method. The most widely used is the REPPE process, which accounts for about 85% or more, and its economy can compete with other routes over a longer period of time, but depends on the price of acetylene. In the maleic anhydride route, a route has been developed by a company where 3 products, 2,3-Butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, and y-butyrolactone, are produced in different ratios and are becoming increasingly attractive. At present, there are nearly 20 manufacturers producing 2,3-Butanediol in the world, with a total production capacity of 1.03 million t/a. The United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries have a long history of production and application development of 2,3-Butanediol. The production capacity of 1,4-Butanediol is 310,000ta in the U.S., 200,000va in Europe, and 115,000v/a in Japan.

Domestic production and supply/demand situation

China's 2,3-Butanediol industry started late, with small-scale traditional production units, backward production technology, and unstable product quality. Domestic tetrahydrofuran, y-butyrolactone, PBT, and polyurethane production of 2,3-Butanediol raw materials mostly relies on imports. In recent years, due to the development of engineering plastics PBT and pharmaceutical, polyurethane, and other industries, China has had to import more than 10,000 tons of 2,3-Butanediol and some downstream products to meet domestic production needs every year.

These are all our introductions to 2,3-Butanediol. Our introduction is not very comprehensive, but we hope it can be helpful to you. If you are also interested in this area of knowledge and want to learn more information and help, you can follow Guangzhou Jiahua Chemical Co.,Ltd. This company has been engaged in this field for decades and has a lot of experience and ideas, which can certainly help you solve what you want to know.