Com­mer­cial­isa­tion Updates On Bio-Based Build­ing Blocks

With the many shifts in eco­nom­ic and polit­ic­al trends over the last year, many bio-based invest­ments are focus­ing on the core of the Bioeconomy: bio-based build­ing blocks and plat­form chem­ic­als. nova-Institute’s pre­lim­in­ary mar­ket study ​“Bio-based Build­ing Blocks and Poly­mers – Glob­al Capa­cit­ies and Trends 2016 – 2021”, reports on sev­en­teen build­ing blocks with an estim­ated total pro­duc­tion capa­city of 2.4 mil­lion tons in 2016, expec­ted to reach 3.5 mil­lion tons in 2021, and with a CAGR of 8%. Com­mer­cial­isa­tion and devel­op­ment of these nov­el build­ing blocks are dis­cussed in more detail in the new nova Insti­tute trend report, ​“Com­mer­cial­isa­tion Updates on Bio-Based Build­ing Blocks”. The rise and wane of the mar­kets for sev­er­al estab­lished bio-based build­ing blocks are also dis­cussed fully includ­ing vari­ous tech­no­logy pro­cesses, feed­stock usage, supply/​demand, and pri­cing whenev­er avail­able for both incum­bent pet­ro­chem­ic­als and their bio-based chem­ic­al altern­at­ives. Both reports are avail­able at www​.bio​-based​.eu/​r​e​ports. Although robust growth is still anti­cip­ated, major industry restruc­tur­ing con­tin­ued in 2016 as the devel­op­ment and com­mer­cial­isa­tion of bio-based build­ing blocks respon­ded to con­tin­ued low crude oil and pet­ro­chem­ic­al prices, pre­val­ent since late 2014. The devel­op­ment and com­mer­cial­isa­tion of drop-in bio-based com­mod­ity chem­ic­als such as those tar­get­ing ethyl­ene and pro­pyl­ene-based deriv­at­ives have been impacted par­tic­u­larly hard. The con­tract price for ethyl­ene in the US dropped sharply from an aver­age of $1,062/ton in 2014 to $673/​ton in 2016. The aver­age price for US pro­pyl­ene also declined dra­mat­ic­ally from $1,530/ton in 2014 to $732/​ton in 2016. This has led com­pan­ies such as Braskem and Dow Chem­ic­al to shelve their bio-based pro­pyl­ene devel­op­ment pro­jects, while Mit­sui aban­doned its sug­ar­cane-based eth­an­ol joint ven­ture with Dow Chem­ic­al in Brazil, which had aimed to build a future eth­an­ol-based poly­ethyl­ene man­u­fac­tur­ing facil­ity to com­pete against Braskem’s 200,000 tpa Green PE plant in Brazil. After more than two years of crude oil prices remain­ing at around $50/​bbl, sev­er­al renew­able chem­ic­al com­pan­ies and investors have star­ted rethink­ing their growth strategies, espe­cially those who have inves­ted R&D in drop-in bio-based chem­ic­al altern­at­ives to com­mod­ity pet­ro­chem­ic­als. One pos­it­ive note is that interest in the poten­tial bene­fi­cial prop­er­ties of nov­el bio-based build­ing blocks. Even oil com­pan­ies such as Total, Neste, Tesoro, Chev­ron and Amer­ic­an Refin­ing Group as well as pet­ro­chem­ic­al com­pan­ies, whose profits have been affected by low crude oil and pet­ro­chem­ic­al prices, are look­ing to expand their port­fo­li­os to include poten­tial applic­a­tions of these nov­el build­ing blocks in spe­cial­ised, high­er-value, smal­ler-volume mar­kets. While it might take more time and invest­ments to devel­op the mar­kets for nov­el build­ing blocks, increased interest in syn­thet­ic bio­logy and the devel­op­ment of new cata­lyst tech­no­lo­gies are help­ing these new products to enter the com­mer­cial mar­ket faster, with the aim to fill some of the require­ments that pet­ro­chem­ic­al-based ingredi­ents were unable to do at cost-eco­nom­ics and in a more sus­tain­able fash­ion. The 63-page report includes 40 fig­ures and 12 capacity/​producer/​production tables for sev­er­al build­ing blocks. It is avail­able at www​.bio​-based​.eu/​r​e​ports.

About the Author

Dor­is de Guz­man joined Tecnon Orbi­Chem in March 2013 as a seni­or con­sult­ant cov­er­ing bio-based chem­ic­als feed­stocks for the company’s Bio-Mater­i­als & Inter­me­di­ates con­sultancy ser­vice. Dor­is has been cov­er­ing the busi­ness of green chem­istry for more than 17 years and she is also the cre­at­or and author of the Green Chem­ic­als Blog, which has an aver­age 15,000 to 20,000 unique read­ers per month. With its unique pos­i­tion cov­er­ing the glob­al chem­ic­al inter­me­di­ates mar­ket, Tecnon Orbi­Chem has under­taken this year’s nova Insti­tute Bio-Based Build­ing Blocks trend report cov­er­ing well-known com­mer­cial bio-based build­ing blocks such as lact­ic acid, suc­cin­ic acid, mono­ethyl­ene glycol (MEG), ethyl­ene, epi­chloro­hydrin (ECH), 1,3 pro­pa­ne­di­ol (PDO) as well as devel­op­ing build­ing blocks such as tere­ph­thal­ic acid (TPA) and 1,4 buta­ne­di­ol (BDO). The report also has added more build­ing blocks cov­er­age this year – 1,5 penta­ne­diam­ine (PDA), hexa­methyl­ene diam­ine (HMDA), adipic acid, mono­p­ro­pyl­ene glycol (MPG), dodeca­ne­dio­ic acid (DDDA), sebacic acid and 11-ami­noun­decano­ic acid (11-AA).

About Tecnon OrbiChem

Tecnon Orbi­Chem has been a lead­er in provid­ing data and ana­lys­is to the pet­ro­chem­ic­al industry since 1976 and is now one of the world’s fore­most mar­ket­ing con­sultan­cies to the bulk chem­ic­als, pet­ro­chem­ic­als and plastics indus­tries; spe­cial­ising in Chem­ic­al Inter­me­di­ates, Syn­thet­ic Fibres and Res­ins.

About nova-Insti­tute

nova-Insti­tute is a private and inde­pend­ent insti­tute, foun­ded in 1994; nova offers research and con­sultancy with a focus on bio-based and CO₂-based eco­nomy in the fields of feed­stock, techno-eco­nom­ic eval­u­ation, mar­kets, sus­tain­ab­il­ity, dis­sem­in­a­tion, B2B com­mu­nic­a­tion and policy. Today, nova-Insti­tute has 25 employ­ees and an annu­al turnover of more than 2.5 mil­lion €. Source: nova-Institut