In the United Kingdom, Technavio says biobased production processes will account for an increasing amount of global epichlorohydrin manufacturing.
According to the consultancy, increased availability of glycerin, a biodiesel production byproduct, is driving interest in glycerin-to-epichlorohydrin technologies.
One route, for example, reacts glycerin with chlorine to produce epichlorohydrin precursor dichlorohydrin.
Conventional epichlorohydrin production uses propylene and chlorine, but the cost of glycerin is very high compared to propylene. Also, consumers are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of propylene on the environment and the benefits of using biobased products, says Mohd Shakeel Iqbal, a lead analyst at Technavio. “The US is investing heavily in R&D to produce epichlorohydrin from glycerin.” Dow Chemical, for example, has invested $100 million to build an epichlorohydrin facility in China based on glycerin byproduct.
Technavio says the global epichlorohydrin market is growing at a moderate pace because of increasing demand in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East and Africa. Paints and coatings accounted for largest market share at about a third of the global market in 2016. Demand in China is mainly increasing because of the rise in production of epoxy resins, which have a wide range of applications.