The bio-based BDO market is still in its early stages of development and the number of global production companies is very small.

Bio-based BDO, bio-based 1,4-butanediol, is made from sugars produced by the hydrolysis of starch. BDO is mainly produced through the fermentation of plant sugars. As a substitute for petroleum-based BDO, bio-based BDO has the advantages of low production cost, high environmental protection, and low greenhouse gas emissions. Against the background of increasingly stringent environmental protection supervision, bio-based BDO is expected to gradually replace petroleum-based BDO and become the mainstream product in the market. , the bio-based BDO industry has broad prospects for development in the future.

1,4-Butanediol (BDO) is an important organic and fine chemical raw material, mainly used in the production of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), tetrahydrofuran (THF) ), polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG) and other products, their downstream applications involve many fields such as medicine, chemicals, textiles, papermaking, automobiles, and power tools. Due to technical limitations, my country’s current BDO production capacity is all petroleum-based BDO. Only Shandong Landian Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has a bio-based BDO project in China (to be produced).

According to the “2021-2026 Bio-based 1,4-butanediol (bio-based BDO) industry market in-depth research and investment prospect forecast analysis report released by the Industrial Research Center ” shows that BDO production methods include acetylenic aldehyde method, maleic anhydride hydrogenation method, butadiene method, propylene oxide method and biological method. Among them, the biological method of preparing BDO has outstanding environmental protection advantages and has been favored by Europe and the United States. and other countries have paid widespread attention. However, due to high technical barriers, there are very few bio-based BDO production companies globally, mainly including Italian Novamont Company, American Genomatica Company, DSM, BASF, Mitsubishi Chemical, etc. my country currently has no bio-based BDO production capacity, and market demand mainly relies on imports. .

In June 2021, Cargill of the United States and Helm of Germany established Qore as a joint venture and established the first commercial-scale bio-based 1,4-butanediol (BDO) device in the United States. The total investment is expected to be US$300 million and will produce 65,000 tons/ The bio-based BDO is planned to be put into operation in 2024. As related projects under construction and proposed come into operation, the global bio-based BDO market will further expand and is expected to reach US$3.58 billion in 2026.

In recent years, thanks to the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, the region’s demand for bio-based BDO has been continuously released. In 2020, the Asia-Pacific region became the world’s largest bio-based BDO market, with a market share of more than 53.6%. In terms of downstream applications, bio-based BDO can be used to produce PTMEG, γ-butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, PBT and other products. PTMEG is the main demand area for bio-based BDO, accounting for more than 30% of the demand in 2020.

Industry analysts said that at this stage, the global bio-based BDO market is still in the early stages of development. Due to technical limitations, the number of companies in the industry is relatively large. my country currently has no bio-based BDO production capacity and currently relies mainly on imports. Under the strategic goals of carbon neutrality and carbon peaking, the development of the bio-based material industry will be an inevitable trend. As an important organic and fine chemical raw material, the BDO industry will also transform into an environmentally friendly and bio-based direction. From this point of view, in the future The bio-based BDO industry has huge development potential.