Stearic acid has a wide range of applications and my country’s demand relies on imports

Stearic acid, also known as octadecanoic acid, is a subdivided product of fatty acids. Its chemical formula is C18H36O2 and it is an organic compound. Stearic acid appears as a white or slightly yellow waxy solid, easily soluble in chloroform, hot ethanol, ether and carbon disulfide, but insoluble in water.

The main production processes of stearic acid include pressing method and molecular distillation method. The pressing method mostly uses animal and vegetable oils or vegetable oil soap stock as raw materials, adds a decomposing agent, uses the different melting points of the oils to cool the mixture to a certain temperature, and finally obtains stearic acid through processes such as hydrolysis, washing, distillation, crystallization, and pressing; molecules The distillation method operates in a high vacuum environment, taking advantage of the different boiling points of the raw materials to control the distillation temperature, and obtain refined stearic acid through processes such as washing, clarification, vacuum fractionation, stirring, and filtration.

According to the “2022-2027 Stearic Acid Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, The development of the stearic acid industry is closely related to the supply of raw materials. The main raw material of stearic acid is palm oil. my country does not have the production capacity of palm oil, so market consumption is completely dependent on imports. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s palm oil imports reached 6.376 million tons in 2021. In terms of price, affected by climate, inventory and other factors, my country’s palm oil prices have generally shown a fluctuating upward trend. Against this background, the production cost of stearic acid in my country continues to increase, resulting in slow growth in output. According to statistics from the China Laundry Association Table Committee, my country’s stearic acid output will reach 447,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%.

The rubber field is the largest demander for stearic acid. Stearic acid is mostly used as a softener, vulcanization activator and dispersant for synthetic rubber. In recent years, benefiting from the rapid development of the automobile tire manufacturing industry, the demand for rubber has continued to grow, driving the stearic acid industry to expand in scale. At the same time, stearic acid is widely used as an emulsifier in cosmetics, food, papermaking and other fields.

In terms of import and export, because my country’s stearic acid production cannot meet the demand of the local market and is highly dependent on imports, the industry has a large trade deficit. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s stearic acid import volume will reach 337,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%; my country’s stearic acid export volume will reach 16,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. Indonesia is my country’s largest importer of stearic acid, accounting for nearly 80% of the country’s total imports. Zhejiang and Jiangsu are the regions with the largest import volume of stearic acid in my country, accounting for nearly 30% of the country’s total import volume.

Industry analysts said that stearic acid has thermal stability, lubricity, and emulsification properties, and is widely used in many fields. As market demand gradually releases, my country’s stearic acid industry will gain broad development prospects. However, currently, due to factors such as insufficient supply of raw materials, my country’s stearic acid production is low and demand is highly dependent on imports. This is the main challenge facing the development of the industry.