Resorcinol is a six carbon phenol derived hydrocarbon compound. The chemical is white in color with a crystal structure. It is soluble in water, alcohol, ether and benzene. It has a very mild odor and a bitter sweet taste. It is also known as m-benzenediol, m-hydroxyquinone, and resorcin. Resorcinol can be manufactured commercially through two processes. One of the commercial processes involves sulphonation of benzene followed by neutralization of disulphonic acid, caustic fusion and separation. This process yields technical grade resorcinol with higher than 98% purity.
Another common commercial process of resorcinol production involves alkylation of benzene with propylene in presence of a catalyst (AlCl3 or solid phosphoric acid). Sumitomo Chemicals which is one of the key manufacturers of resorcinol uses the later process. Resorcinol is a hazardous chemical and may cause severe irritation to the skin and eyes if exposed. It s highly toxic to the aquatic life and has a mutagenic effect on bacteria and yeast. It releases toxic carbon oxides when burned.
Resorcinol is primarily used as an essential component, along with synthetic rubber latex and formaldehyde, of the adhesive system employed by the rubber industry for manufacturing tyres for trucks, passenger vehicles, off-road equipment and other fibre reinforced mechanical materials including conveyor belts among other. Resorcinol is also utilized for high performance wood binding applications through resorcinol resins fortified with formaldehyde. These wood binding applications require high quality adhesive formulation that can survive extreme heat and moisture conditions. Resorcinol is an important chemical intermediate for production of specialty chemicals employed as screening agents against UV light in plastics. Some other applications include production of dyestuffs, agricultural chemicals, flame retardants, fungicides, pharmaceuticals, explosive primers, creams and lotions among others.
Resorcinol market is driven by its demand for manufacturing tyres from the automotive industry and wood binding adhesive applications. Demand growth is expected to be driven by the growth of end use industries of resorcinol products including, automotive, construction, rubber, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and personal care industries. Resorcinol demand for production of flame retardants is expected to witness high growth in the near future. However, hazardous nature of the product and high disposal costs might restrain market growth. New applications in personal care and pharmaceutical products can be a prospective market opportunity for further demand growth.
In terms of geographies, Asia Pacific is the largest consumer of resorcinol riding on high sales of end use application products such as tyres to its large population base. Major industrial economies including China, India, Japan and South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand are the major consumers of resorcinol for application in a variety of industries including automotive, chemicals and construction. Two of the most populated countries, China and India are situated in Asia. Both these countries are growing rapidly and witnessing rising disposable income and purchase power parity of the general population.
This in turn is expected to drive demand for consumer goods using resorcinol. Major market players have established their production facilities in Asia owing to the availability of cheap labor and land and comparatively lenient norms and regulations against chemicals and plastics. North America is another major consumer for resorcinol especially in tyres for automotive industry, flame retardants for construction industry and pharmaceuticals. Europe is expected to witness comparatively slower growth than other regions due to recent economic meltdown which affected the automotive industry in the region.
Some of the key players profiled in resorcinol market research report include Sumitomo Chemicals, Indspec chemical corporation and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. among others.
This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include
- North America
- Asia Pacific
- Rest of the World
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