Butyric acid demand is growing steadily and the industry has good development prospects

Butyric acid, also known as n-butyric acid, is an organic substance that appears as a colorless, transparent oily liquid, has an unpleasant odor, and is irritating, corrosive, and toxic. Butyric acid is added to food to give it a better sensory experience. At present, butyric acid is mainly used in the spice industry in the domestic market, and its application proportion in other fields is relatively low.

Butyric acid comes in two forms: natural butyric acid and synthetic butyric acid. Natural butyric acid is mainly derived from nutmeg, lavender, lemongrass and other plants; synthetic butyric acid is synthesized through chemical methods. The main production processes include agricultural and sideline product fermentation, butanol oxidation, butyraldehyde oxidation, propylene carbonyl synthesis, n-pentanol nitric acid oxidation method, etc. The n-butyraldehyde oxidation method has the advantages of simple process flow, less raw materials, and high yield. It is the mainstream preparation process in the butyric acid industry at this stage.

According to the “2023-2028 China Butyric Acid Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, the recent In recent years, butyric acid has been widely used as a spice for the flavoring of butter, cheese and fruit flavors. It can also be used in the manufacture of butyrate esters, cellulose butyrate, drugs and other ester synthesis. With the development of downstream industries such as flavors and organic synthesis, China’s butyric acid market demand continues to grow. In 2022, the market size of China’s butyric acid industry will be 247 million yuan.

At this stage, the number of domestic butyric acid production companies is relatively small. Representative companies include Runtai New Materials Co., Ltd., Zibo Longbang Chemical Co., Ltd., Yancheng Hongtai Bioengineering Co., Ltd., and Yancheng Huade (Dancheng) Bioengineering Co., Ltd. Company, Jiangsu Hengxing New Material Technology Co., Ltd., etc. Each manufacturing enterprise has formed a relatively stable sales area and customer group, and industry competition is relatively relaxed.

Butyric acid is an important raw material and has been widely used in spices, organic synthesis and other fields. Butyric acid has made good progress in the preparation and application of polymer materials, among which cellulose acetate butyrate is a representative product. Butyric acid also has potential development space in medicine, such as the preparation of a series of derivatives with medical value in gastrointestinal protection and other aspects. In recent years, manufacturing companies such as Jiangsu Hengxing New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. and Runtai New Materials Co., Ltd. have been actively expanding the application of butyric acid in other industries to promote the development of the domestic butyric acid industry.

Industrial analysts said that in recent years, the country has issued a number of policies to promote the development of the chemical industry and flavors and fragrances. Among them, by 2025, the main business revenue of my country’s spices and flavors industry will reach 50 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of more than 2%. The production of flavors has reached 400,000 tons, and the production of spices has reached 250,000 tons. The sustained development of the above-mentioned industries has laid a very good market foundation for domestic butyric acid. On the whole, based on good market expectations, domestic chemical companies are actively building, renovating and expanding butyric acid projects, and the industry has good development prospects.