The next 5 years: Glycine demand will continue to grow

At present, China produces four levels of glycine, namely industrial grade, feed grade, food grade and pharmaceutical grade. Among them, industrial grade glycine dominates the market, and only a few other three levels of glycine circulate in the domestic market. The survey results show that since 2007, driven by glyphosate, China's glycine industry has achieved rapid development, production capacity continues to expand, and production continues to increase. At the end of 2008, the supply of glycine exceeded demand, and this situation is still deteriorating. From 2009 to now, the industry operating rate is at a relatively low level, below 50%. The domestic production in 2009 was about 180,000 tons, and the current production capacity has been nearly 500,000 tons/year.

The cold flow of glyphosate since 2009 has also exerted a great influence on the glycine industry. Some small and medium-sized enterprises are unable to produce normally, and many companies have a meagre profit and even lose money. At present, the largest production company in Asia and the world, Hebei Donghua Chemical Group, after continuous expansion, production capacity has reached 200,000 tons / year, accounting for about 40% of the country's total production capacity. Almost all Chinese glycine producers use the ammonolysis route of chloroacetic acid. Yingli, the Three Gorges Project, is the only company in China that uses natural gas routes to produce glycine. It has not shown its advantages in competition with other companies. The glycine production line has been discontinued for a long time. With the continuous completion and commissioning of some medium-sized projects, the concentration of glycine in the industry in the country is continuously declining, while the chloroacetic acid and its hydrocarbons in the upstream industries are maintained in a decentralized state.

For the future development trend of glycine, Qu Xiaodong, an information researcher of Western America, believes that the global economy is slowly recovering, and the planting area of ​​Glyphosate-tolerant transgenic crops is continuously expanding, and the demand and price of glyphosate are on an upward trend, thus driving the glycine industry. development of. In the next five years, glycine demand will continue to grow.