China’s ethyl mercaptan industry is relatively sluggish. The short-term market is greatly affected by environmental protection and production safety policies.

Ethanethiol, also known as mercaptoethane and thioethanol, is a compound with a thiol (-SH) structure formed by replacing the oxygen atom in the hydroxyl group of ethanol with a sulfur atom. Its molecular formula is CH3CH2SH and its molecular weight is 62.13, which is It is a colorless and transparent oily liquid with a strong persistent and pungent garlic odor and is easily volatile in the air. Ethyl mercaptan is slightly soluble in water. Its solubility in water is 1.5% (weight ratio) at 20°C. It is easily soluble in alkaline water and organic solvents such as ethanol and ether.

Ethyl mercaptan has a strong and persistent irritating garlic odor, which can be smelled at a concentration of about 0.00019 mg/L. Therefore, it is often added to gas or liquefied gas as a warning gas to prevent leakage accidents. After the natural gas explosion at New London Middle School in Texas in 1937, the legislative authorities mandated the addition of ethyl mercaptan odorant to natural gas, coal gas and other flammable and explosive gases to ensure that leaks would be detected in time. This is also the case with ethyl mercaptan. The earliest documented use of mercaptans as odorants. With the large-scale use of natural gas, the ethyl mercaptan industry has gradually formed a scale, especially in the United States. Currently, ethyl mercaptan is still the main warning additive for gas.

There are two main companies in the production of ethyl mercaptan, namely Arkema of France and Chevron Phillips of the United States. The production plants of these two companies are located in France and Belgium respectively. The two multinational ethyl mercaptan companies rely on their advanced technology and With strong brand influence, complete marketing channels and excellent product quality, it occupies an important global market share and serves a large number of gas and pesticide manufacturers. Although there were some small ethyl mercaptan enterprises in my country in the early stage, due to their small production capacity and serious environmental pollution, most of them have been shut down and banned by relevant departments. At this stage, there are no domestic manufacturers capable of large-scale production of ethyl mercaptan. All rely on imports. According to the released “2021-2022 Ethyl Mercaptan Industry Development Prospects and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report“, China’s ethyl mercaptan The market size exceeds 100 million yuan. The market size is limited, but it is highly dependent on imports.

my country’s ethyl mercaptan is mainly used in the production of pesticides such as clethodim. Clethodim is a highly efficient, low-toxic herbicide that can control annual and perennial grass weeds. It is safe for dicotyledonous plants and is suitable for cotton, peanuts, soybeans, tobacco, rapeseed and orchards. Since 2015, with the implementation of the domestic “zero pesticide growth” policy, the market demand for organophosphorus pesticides such as isopropylphosphonate has been suppressed, resulting in slow growth in the market demand for ethyl mercaptan.

According to analysts, in recent years, my country has paid special attention to the environmental protection and production safety of pesticides and other chemical industries, and has successively issued a number of environmental protection and safety production policies, and increase supervision of relevant enterprises. In February 2020, an explosion occurred in the clethodim workshop of Liaoning Xianda Agricultural Science Co., Ltd., causing many casualties and huge economic losses. This incident may lead to the country to continue to increase inspections of the safety production of the clethodim industry, and then It will have a certain negative impact on the market demand for ethyl mercaptan.