CEH Report
Table of Contents
Abstract
C1-C6 alkyl monoamines are important and well-established building blocks for several industrial products. Each individual C1-C6 alkylamine has its own set of applications, with the largest applications including the manufacture of solvents, pesticides, feed additives, water treating chemicals, and rubber processing chemicals. These C1-C6 monoamines are produced primarily from ammonia and an alcohol. The report includes the following products:
- Methylamines (C1)
- Ethylamines (C2)
- Propylamines and isopropylamines (C3)
- n-Butylamines and isobutylamines (C4)
- Amylamines (C5)
- Cyclohexylamines (C6)
The following pie chart shows world consumption of C1-C6 alkylamines:
China is the largest single producer and consumer of C1-C6 alkylamines.
Methylamines accounted for about 75% of world demand, mostly for production of solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). DMF is the largest single derivative of methylamines.
China's consumption of C1-C6 alkylamines, mainly dimethylamine for DMF because of a large synthetic/artificial leather (polyurethane-based) market—an application that is comparatively miniscule in most other regions. Consumption of DMF in electronics, mainly in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, is a large market in Asia, especially Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and Japan. As a result, Asia accounted for about 59% of world consumption of C1-C6 alkylamines in 2010. China is forecast to remain the largest market for C1-C6 alkylamines in 2016; demand for solvents, rubber processing chemicals, pesticides and choline chloride (a feed additive) will experience rapid growth.
Consumption of C1-C6 alkylamines fluctuates annually, especially as related to demand for pesticides, which varies according to weather and planted acreage. Some C1-C6 alkylamines, such as isopropylamine, have large export volumes. However, international trade is not a major factor; world exports accounted for approximately 11.5% of production in 2010. Several C1-C6 alkylamine derivatives have substantial export volumes; examples include NMP and DMF.
The market is at risk for consolidation. Additional planned capacity, if commissioned during 2010–2016, will likely result in the shutdown of older less-efficient plants. Areas at risk for plant shutdowns or reduced production include North America, Europe and Asia. Additionally, some announced projects are at risk of being cancelled or delayed because of market conditions, project costs or labor costs.