Domestic Demand of DMF Increasing

     Table Major DMF Producers in China and Their Capacities

Producer                          Production process

Nantong No. 3 Chemical Plant      methyl formate process

Jiangsu Lianshui Chemical Plant   methyl formate process

Xuzhou Solvent Plant              methyl formate process

Mudanjiang Yinxi Chemical Plant   two-step process

Hebei Dongting Chemical General   two-step process

Plant

Jiangsu Wujin Chemical Fertilizer two-step process

Plant

Hengyang No. 3 Chemical Plant     methyl formate process

Lianyungang Shuguang Chemical     methyl formate process

Plant

Jiangsu Xinya Chemical Industrial CO one-step synthesis process

Group

Shandong Zibo Organic Amine Plant CO one-step synthesis process

Zhejiang Jiangshan Chemical       CO one-step synthesis process

General Plant

Producer                                  Capacity (t/a)

Nantong No. 3 Chemical Plant                       1 000

Jiangsu Lianshui Chemical Plant                    1 000

Xuzhou Solvent Plant                               1 000

Mudanjiang Yinxi Chemical Plant                    1 000

Hebei Dongting Chemical General Plant              7 000

Jiangsu Wujin Chemical Fertilizer Plant            2 000

Hengyang No. 3 Chemical Plant                      3 000

Lianyungang Shuguang Chemical Plant                2 000

Jiangsu Xinya Chemical Industrial Group           12 000

Shandong Zibo Organic Amine Plant                  8 000

Zhejiang Jiangshan Chemical General Plant          8 000

1. Production status

There are more than 10 DMF producers in China, but they are all small-sized with outdated technology and equipment. Most of them use the methyl formate process. The process has high production cost and can not meet the requirements in chemical fiber, pharmaceutical and petrochemical sectors. Due to the impact of low-priced imports, the operating rate of domestic DMF producers is low and the actual annual output was only around 4 000 - 11 000 tons in the years from 1987 to 1995. With the completion of producers based on the synthesis process, the output can hopefully reach around 19 000 tons. Major producers with a capacity of over 1 000 t/a are shown in the table below. Besides, Tieling Chemical Plant of Liaoning, Juhua Group and Hengyang Organic Synthesis Chemical Plant of Hunan have a capacity of 500 t/a, 800 t/a and 500 t/a respectively.

2. Present demand and demand projection

The biggest consumer of DMF in China was the production of insecticides in the past. The consumption was around 3 600 tons in 1991. The recent research has discovered carcinogenic substances in insecticide chlordimeform residues. The production of chlordimeform stopped in 1992 and DMF gradually lost the market in the pesticide sector after 1995. The demand of DMF in polyacrylonitrile drawing and polyurethane leather is increasing fast. The consumption in polyacrylonitrile drawing is expected to reach 14 500 tons in 2000. The output of polyurethane leather started to increase at an annual rate of 20% from 1981, more than 70 production lines (20 of them using the wet process) have been constructed and the demand of DMF in the sector will reach 10 000 tons in 2000. The pharmaceutical industry in China has developed fast in the recent years, DMF is mainly used to produce sulfonamides and the demand of DMF in the sector will reach around 5 000 tons in 2000. Besides, the consumption of DMF in butadiene extraction is fast expanding and will reach 400 tons in 2000. It is expected that the total demand of DMF in these sectors will reach around 31 000 tons in 2000.