Propylene glycol methyl ether (PM) is widely used and the market demand is growing day by day.

Propylene glycol methyl ether (PM), also known as propylene glycol monomethyl ether, has a chemical formula of C4H10O2 and is an organic compound. Propylene glycol methyl ether appears as a colorless and transparent liquid with a faint ether smell. It has the advantages of good reactivity, low toxicity, and good solubility. It can dissolve natural resins, synthetic resins, oils, acrylic emulsions, rubber and other products.

In the global market, the global propylene glycol methyl ether market will reach US$1.96 billion in 2021, a year-on-year growth of 2.3%. Asia, Europe and the United States are the main consumer markets for propylene glycol methyl ether, with Asia accounting for 45.0% and Europe and the United States accounting for 50.0%. In the local market, my country’s propylene glycol methyl ether industry has developed rapidly in recent years. Its market size will reach US$370 million in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. With the increasingly strong market demand and continuous innovation in production technology, it is expected that my country’s propylene glycol methyl ether market will maintain a steady growth trend in the future.

The main raw materials of propylene glycol methyl ether are methanol and propylene oxide. As a basic raw material for the chemical industry, my country’s methanol production capacity continues to expand. In 2021, my country’s methanol production capacity will reach 98.642 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. Driven by market demand, my country’s propylene oxide production continues to grow. In 2021, my country’s propylene oxide production reached 3.576 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 32.7%. According to the “2022 Propylene Glycol Methyl Ether Industry Investment Feasibility Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, Sufficient supply of raw materials provides guarantee for the development of the propylene glycol methyl ether industry. In 2021, my country’s propylene glycol methyl ether production will reach 396,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%.

As an environmentally friendly organic solvent, propylene glycol methyl ether is widely used in pesticides, coatings, electronic components, printing, chemical industry, etc. In the field of pesticides, propylene glycol methyl ether can be used as an intermediate for the herbicide metolachlor and has the advantage of causing little environmental pollution. In recent years, driven by national environmental protection policies, my country’s demand for propylene glycol methyl ether in the pesticide field has become increasingly strong. In the field of coatings, propylene glycol methyl ether can reduce the film-forming temperature and can be used to produce water-based architectural coatings, polyurethane paints, latex paints, and automotive spray paints.

There are a large number of propylene glycol methyl ether production enterprises in my country, which are concentrated in South China and East China. my country’s leading propylene glycol methyl ether companies include local companies represented by Jiangsu Hualun Chemical Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Yida Chemical Co., Ltd., as well as foreign companies represented by Dana Tianyin Holdings Co., Ltd. and Dow Chemical (China) Investment Co., Ltd. enterprise.

Industry analysts said that as an important chemical material intermediate, propylene glycol methyl ether is widely used in many fields. Driven by market demand, The development trend of the industry will continue to improve in the future. Benefiting from the sufficient supply of raw materials, my country’s propylene glycol methyl ether production maintains a steady growth trend. In terms of market competition, my country’s local companies continue to accelerate the optimization of industrial structure layout, driving the localization rate of propylene glycol methyl ether to continue to increase.