1、 Industry Overview
Surfactants refer to a class of amphiphilic compounds whose molecular structure is amphiphilic (hydrophilic, hydrophobic, lipophilic). Adding a small amount of them can significantly change the interfacial state of their solution system. One end of the molecule is an lipophilic group (hydrophobic group), and the other end is a hydrophilic group. According to the principle of similar compatibility, when dissolved in water, water has a strong affinity for hydrophilic groups, while it has a repulsive force for hydrophobic groups. This repulsive force has a tendency for hydrophobic groups to escape from water, resulting in the enrichment of molecules on the surface of water, forming a directed monolayer adsorption of molecules at the water air interface.
Depending on the specific molecular or ionic properties, various types of surfactants have a series of physical and chemical properties such as washing and decontamination, wetting, anti adhesion, emulsification, foaming, solubilization, dispersion, defoaming, anti-corrosion, and antistatic, making them a flexible and versatile class of fine chemical products. The downstream application fields of surfactants include washing products, cosmetics, food processing, textile printing and dyeing, agricultural auxiliaries Mineral flotation, oil mining, oil treatment, etc. Therefore, surfactants are also known as "industrial monosodium glutamate".
There are a wide variety of surface active agents, and according to relevant data, there are currently about 6000 types of surface active agents worldwide. Common classification methods for surfactants include ionization properties, raw materials for production, and product uses.
The classification of active substances in aqueous solutions based on the ionization properties of surfactants is a typical classification method. According to this method, products can be divided into four categories: anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, and zwitterionic surfactants. Among them, anionic surfactants and non ionic surfactants are the most important surfactant products. These products typically have strong detergency and high cost performance characteristics, and their application range and usage are far greater than those of the other two types of products. In practical applications, four types of surfactants have different characteristics in terms of detergency, foaming, degreasing, softness, antistatic, acid and alkali resistance, and are often used in combination to give full play to their comprehensive effectiveness.
According to the different raw materials used in the production of surfactants, surfactants can be divided into natural oil based surfactants and petroleum based surfactants. Natural oil based surfactants are surfactants made from natural oils or oil chemicals, while petroleum based surfactants are surfactants made from petroleum derivatives as basic raw materials. Natural oil based surfactants are also known as "green surfactants" because their raw materials come from renewable resources in nature, have good biodegradability, low skin irritation, excellent physicochemical properties, and good compatibility with other surfactants. Products such as AES, K12, ammonium salts, and alkanolamides all belong to natural oil based surfactants.
According to the different fields of use of surfactants, they can be divided into daily surfactants and industrial surfactants. Household surfactants are mainly used in the fields of cleaning products, personal care products, cosmetics, etc. Industrial surfactants are mainly used in the fields of textile printing and dyeing, food processing, agricultural auxiliaries, building materials, etc. With the continuous penetration of the application field of surfactants, the same category of surfactants can have multiple application fields, such as simultaneous application in personal care products and building materials.
2、 Industry development status
1. Market size
Due to the widespread application of surfactants, in the context of sustained economic growth in China, surfactants have benefited from the sustained growth of downstream demand and sustained development. This robust growth trend is expected to be maintained in the future. In 2022, the market scale of China's surfactant industry will reach 64.508 billion yuan.
2. Production
Although the development of surface active agents in China started relatively late, with the support of the state and the efforts of relevant enterprises, the market has shown rapid development, and has now become one of the major producers and sellers of surface active agents in the world. By 2022, the output of China's surfactant industry has reached 4.084 million tons, with a sales volume of 3.607 million tons.
3. Supply and demand balance analysis
From the perspective of production and sales rate, the supply and demand relationship in China's surfactant industry is relatively healthy, with the production and sales rate consistently maintained at around 90%.
3、 Industry Segment Analysis
1. Anionic surfactant
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of residents' health awareness, the detergent industry has also developed rapidly, and the market demand for anionic surfactants has steadily increased, driving the sustained growth of industry production. According to data, the market size of anionic surfactants in China in 2022 was 28.9 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 7.27%.
2. Cationic surfactant
With the development of the world economy and the development of science and technology, the application fields of surfactants have developed from the daily chemical industry to the technical departments such as petroleum, food, agriculture, health, environment, and new materials. In 2017-2021, the sales of cationic surfactants in China continued to rise, with the largest increase in 2020. The research, development and use of cationic surfactants in China started relatively late, but the development speed is relatively fast. Due to the impact of the international economic environment, the proportion of cationic surfactant sales in total sales showed a downward trend in 2015-2016, reaching a minimum of 1.35% in 2016, and then rising all the way up. In 2022, the market size reached 5.354 billion yuan.
3. Non ionic surfactants
Non ionic surfactants are surfactants whose main hydrophilic group is the ether group that does not dissociate in aqueous solution, and whose surface activity is reflected by neutral molecules. Non ionic surfactants have high surface activity, good solubilization, washing, antistatic, calcium soap dispersion, and other properties. They have low irritation, excellent wetting and washing functions, and have a certain degree of hard water resistance. They can be used together with other ionic surfactants. They are indispensable components in detergent and emulsifier formulations. Non ionic surfactants are mainly divided into four types: polyoxyethylene ethers, polyol esters, amides, and block polyethers. In the past 30 years, the development of non ionic surfactants in China has been extremely rapid, and their applications have become increasingly widespread. In 2022, the market scale of non ionic surfactants in China reached 24.384 billion yuan.
4. Amphoteric surfactant
Amphoteric surfactants refer to surfactants with both anionic and cationic hydrophilic groups. In their structure, there are simultaneously ions with opposite properties, which can form cations or anions depending on external conditions (such as pH changes). Practically speaking, the commonly used cationic part is an amine salt or quaternary ammonium salt type hydrophilic group, while the anionic part is a carboxylate, sulfonate, or phosphate type hydrophilic group. In particular, an amino acid type amphoteric surfactant containing both amino and carboxyl groups in the same molecule, or an internal ammonium salt type amphoteric surfactant composed of quaternary ammonium and carboxyl groups as intramolecular salts.
The main application fields of amphoteric surfactants are personal care and home care. However, other applications of amphoteric surfactants, such as oilfield chemicals and agricultural chemicals, account for a small share of the amphoteric surfactant market. These surfactants have ideal foaming, corrosion inhibition, and emulsification effects in oilfield chemical formulations. Similarly, in agrochemical applications, they are used in the formulation of herbicides, insecticides, and insecticides, primarily to optimize crop protection and improve performance. However, only a few manufacturers mainly target these market segments, leaving room for new players. Although the amphoteric surfactant market is growing in personal care and home care and cleaning, these are developed markets that may reach a mature stage. Therefore, manufacturers should target applications that are in the growth stage, primarily to gain additional market share.
4、 Industry competition pattern
The surfactant industry in China started in the 1950s and started relatively late, but its development and updating speed is fast. At present, China has become a major producer and consumer of surface active agents worldwide. The rigid and stable growth of downstream applications such as washing products has promoted the sustainable and stable development of the surface active agent industry in China. In 2022, China's production and sales of surfactants were 4.084 million tons and 3.607 million tons, respectively. In recent years, the production and market structure of anionic surfactants in China have tended to stabilize, production devices of enterprises above designated size have operated smoothly, industry monopolies have further strengthened, and market concentration has further improved. In the field of AES, the output of the top five enterprises in 2022 accounted for 63.9%, with Zanyu Technology occupying a leading position with a market share of 33.1%, becoming the largest supplier of domestic AES; Next, Lichen Industries accounted for 16.2%.
Overall, there are many manufacturers in the surfactant industry in China, but there are not many enterprises with a production and sales volume exceeding 10000 tons. The vast majority of enterprises' production remains at the level of thousands of tons or even lower, with small scale, scattered layout, and backward technology. Only some large enterprises occupy a large market share with advantages in product research and development, production process control, technical services, sales management, and other aspects.
