Research Report of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry, 2009

Oxalic acid is an important basic organic raw material, mainly used to produce the pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, borneol, pharmaceutical intermediate synthesis, the precipitant extracts in the rare earth metals, dye deoxidizer, tanning agents and cleansing agents of the metal equipments etc. with the application expansion of the oxalate in the pharmaceutical and pesticide synthesis, the demands for the oxalate were steadily increased over the previous years. At present, the demands volumes of the oxalate in the world are about 400 thousand tons. In 2008, the yields of the oxalic acid in China exceeded 200 thousand tons and the export volumes were around 50 thousand tons.

The traditional industrialization production methods of the oxalic acid mainly concluded sodium formate process, oxidation process, oxo process, glycol oxidation process, propylene oxidation process and carbon monoxide coupling process etc. At present, the manufacturing process of the oxalic acid is through the coal chemical route and the costs are low. The major mechanism lies in the later period, which hydrolyzes parts of the intermediate products dibutyl oxalate and generates oxalic acid and methanol. The methanol can be further used to produce nitrous acid methyl ester, which is used to produce dimethyl oxalate so as to achieve the goals of cyclic utilization. During the coupling process, when producing 1 ton glycol, 2 ton oxalic acid has been produced at the same time.

Oxalic acid is mainly used to produce the tetracycline, aureomycin and terramycin etc. in the pharmaceutical industry. The development of these pharmaceutical products largely depends on the export tendency. With the development of Chinese pharmaceutical industry, it is predicted that the demands for the oxalic acid in Chinese pharmaceutical industry will be increased gradually.

Another important use of the oxalic acid is the smelting of the rare earth. According to the statistics, the smelting of the rare earth per ton needs 1.4 tons oxalic acid. In 2008, the demands for the oxalic acid in Chinese rare earth industry were beyond 100 thousand tons.

At present, the largest oxalic acid manufacturer in China is Yuanping Chemicals Co., Ltd with the annual yield capacity of 70 thousand tons. In 2008, its actual yields exceeded 40 thousand tons. The other domestic manufacturers are all in small scales and low concentration. The traditional industrialization production method of the oxalic acid has to use sulfuric acid and lead, leading to serious menace to the environment.

Apart from Tongliao Jinmei Chemicals Co., Ltd capable of producing the oxalic acid by synthesis of the nitrate carbonyl, other manufacturers generally adopt the carbohydrate nitric acid oxidation process, glycol mixed acid oxidation process and propylene nitric acid oxidation process etc. Besides, the sodium formate additive process, comparatively polluted the environment, has been replaced in the world.

Tongliao Jinmei Chemicals Co., Ltd is planning to construct coal made glycol project with the annual yield of 1.2 million tons. It is predicted that the investments total 10 billion Yuan (1.43 billion USD) and the project plans to be completed in three periods: the total investment amounts in the first period are about 2 billion Yuan (280 million USD) for the construction of the 150 thousand ton glycol project and 40 thousand ton oxalic acid project. It is predicted that the first period project will be completed in August 2009 and can produce 60 thousand ton glycol and 40 thousand ton oxalic acid within 2009, which will enable to produce 150 thousand ton glycol and 100 thousand ton oxalic acid in 2010; the second period 400 thousand ton glycol project is predicted to start in the middle March 2010 and be completed in the end of September 2010.

After the oxalic acid project of Tongliao Jinmei Chemicals Co., Ltd in operation, it is predicted that it will tightly hit the present Chinese oxalic acid market. Many medium and small oxalic acid manufactures will be replaced because of the costs and environmental protection. On the occasion, it is probable to cut down the oxalic acid price sharply, which will be steadily rising after massive small enterprises withdraw the market.

The international financial crisis, which broke out in the latter half of 2008, had affected the exports of Chinese oxalic acid. Yuanping Chemicals Co., Ltd, the largest domestic oxalic acid manufacturer, had shut down the overall normal oxalic acid production lines because of the order shortage and transferred to engage in the research and production of the oxalic acid used in the electronic and rare earth industry.

Compared with other chemical products, the price of the oxalic acid fluctuates slightly with the influences of international financial crisis. In the beginning of 2008, the offering price of 99.6% oxalic acid from Yuanping Chemicals Co., Ltd was 5.5 thousand Yuan (786 USD) per ton and increased to 7 thousand Yuan (1 thousand USD) per ton later and again decreased to 5 thousand Yuan (714 USD) per ton and 5.5 thousand Yuan (800 USD) per ton in the beginning of 2009.

More following information can be obtained in this report:

• Overview on the Development of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry
• Production Technology Routes of Chinese Oxalic Acid
• Imports and Exports of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry
• Demands of Chinese Oxalic Acid Market
• Major Manufacturers and Their Operations of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry
• Influences of International Financial Crisis on Chinese Oxalic Acid Exports
• Influences of International Financial Crisis on the Downstream Industries of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry
• Development Trends of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry
• Investment Opportunities of Chinese Oxalic Acid Industry