The number of thymol production companies is small and local companies are in urgent need of development.
Thymol, also known as thymol, has a chemical name of 5-methyl-2-isopropylphenol. It is mainly derived from thyme plants and is the main component of thyme volatile oil. Thymol has the special aroma of thyme or thyme and is an important raw material for the preparation of menthol. According to different uses, thymol can be divided into thymol for food additives, thymol for feed additives, thymol for pharmaceutical preparations, etc.
There are two main sources of thymol commonly found in the market, namely natural extraction and chemical synthesis. However, due to the limited production of natural thymol, the cost of natural extraction methods is very high, which seriously affects the output and downstream applications of the product. Therefore, domestic thymol-related companies generally focus on chemical synthesis as their business development focus.
There are few thymol production companies in China. On the one hand, there are high technical and environmental barriers to the production of m-cresol, the upstream raw material for the synthesis of thymol. There are few domestic production companies and high dependence on foreign countries, which limits the development of the thymol industry; On the other hand, the thymol production process itself causes considerable pollution, and against the background of stricter environmental protection, it becomes more difficult for companies to enter.
Most of the thymol products demanded by our country come from imports. The importing countries are mainly India, Germany, etc. The development time of thymol products in the above-mentioned countries is relatively long, and the types and specifications of thymol products are relatively rich, which can meet the needs of thymol in different fields. Phenol product demand.
According to the “2023-2028 China Thymol Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, In recent years, there are only a few thymol manufacturers in China such as Shanghai Yan’an Pharmaceutical Yangpu Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Yuanye Biotechnology Co., Ltd. In 2022, China’s thymol production will be 6.85 tons.
Thymol is a commonly used edible flavoring, preservative, bactericide and antioxidant. It is also a primary raw material for the synthesis of many chemicals and is widely used in food, feed, medicine, tobacco, daily chemical and other industries. With the development of downstream industries, my country’s demand for thymol is increasing year by year. At the same time, as thymol production technology develops in the direction of high efficiency and greenness, it is predicted that the domestic demand for high-quality thymol will be higher in the future. will continue to increase, thus bringing continuous development momentum to the thymol industry.
Industry analysts said that my country is currently highly dependent on the import of thymol, and the development of the industry is restricted by others. In addition, domestic thymol production is mainly based on natural extraction, the production cost is high, and the product is expensive. With the development of my country’s food, feed, medicine, tobacco, daily chemical and other industries, the demand and requirements for thymol will increase. Therefore, the import substitution of thymol is of great significance to the development of downstream industries.