Pentaerythritol (PETP/THME) is rich in variety and my country’s industry concentration needs to be improved

​​ ​​Pentaerythritol (PETP/THME), also known as tetrahydroxymethylmethane and 2,2-bishydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol, has a chemical formula of C5H12O4 and is an organic compound. Pentaerythritol appears as a white crystalline powder with a slightly sweet taste. It is soluble in water and insoluble in carbon tetrachloride, petroleum ether, ether and benzene. Pentaerythritol is flammable, non-toxic, and has good thermal stability, and is widely used in medicine, coatings, pesticides, food processing and other fields.

Pentaerythritol preparation methods include sodium hydroxide method, calcium hydroxide method, etc. Among them, the sodium hydroxide method can be subdivided into low-temperature method and high-temperature method. The low-temperature method refers to reacting formaldehyde and acetaldehyde under the action of sodium hydroxide catalyst in the temperature range of 25℃-30℃ to finally produce pentaerythritol; the high-temperature method refers to the reaction in the temperature range of 40℃-80℃. Get the finished product. The calcium hydroxide method is referred to as the calcium method. This method has the advantages of low operating cost and simple production process, but the yield of finished products is low and is not suitable for large-scale production.

There are many types of pentaerythritol, which can be divided into tripentaerythritol, dipentaerythritol, monopentaerythritol and industrial-grade pentaerythritol according to different component proportions and mass fractions. Dipentaerythritol is the mainstream product in the pentaerythritol market. It refers to pentaerythritol with a mass fraction of more than 85%. It is an important fine chemical intermediate and has the advantages of safety and non-toxicity. It is widely used in high-end lubricants, high-end coatings, synthetic resins and other fields.

According to the “2023-2028 China Pentaerythritol (PETP/THME) Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center 》 shows that pentaerythritol is mainly used in medicine, coatings, pesticides, food processing and other fields. The coating field is the largest demand end for pentaerythritol, which can be used to produce alkyd resin coatings, flame retardant coatings, etc. Benefiting from the growth in market demand and the continuous improvement of the technological maturity of local companies, my country’s pentaerythritol production capacity has continued to expand, reaching nearly 500,000 tons in 2022, becoming one of the world’s major producing countries.

There are many pentaerythritol production companies in my country, and the industry concentration is low. Yuntianhua, Hubei Yihua, Zhongyida, Jinhe Industrial, Ruiyang Chemical, Baoding Chemical, Sanmu Chemical, etc. are the main pentaerythritol manufacturers in my country. It is expected that in the future, under the influence of factors such as the tightening of national environmental protection policies and the deepening of supply-side structural reforms, China’s small and medium-sized enterprises with backward production capacity will gradually be eliminated by the market, and the concentration of the pentaerythritol industry will further increase.

           Industry analysts said that pentaerythritol has a wide range of applications and the industry is developing well. my country is one of the major pentaerythritol producing countries, and its product quality and output occupy a competitive advantage in the global market. Dipentaerythritol has excellent performance. As a high-end pentaerythritol product, the market demand continues to grow. It is expected that in the future, with the improvement of the technological innovation level of local enterprises and the promotion of national policies, the development speed of my country’s pentaerythritol industry will accelerate.