Biobased itaconic acid market and research trends - is it really a promising chemical?

摘要

Itaconic acid is a versatile biobased monomer with active research, and a modest market. Despite high hopes for its production in large volumes, in the beginning of this century, nowadays the acid production is around 40,000 tons/year and is projected to reach 52,000 tons/year in 2025, with sales around U$D 100 million/year. However, there is potential for development of this market with new insights for derivation of itaconic acid into classical monomers or even drop-in technologies. The market could reach about 170,000 tons/year in 2025, with 2.6 million dollars in sales (at U$D 1,500/ton), if the specialty polymers demand increases. The economy of scale, if this demand grows, could force a price reduction to the point that IA might be cheaper than several similar monomers. With its biobased appeal - there is no other natural unsaturated monomer that can be so easily produced by fermentation - and the slow transition of the ethanol industry to value-added biobased building blocks. IA tends to gain market in the near future. Currently, it is a prospective biomonomer waiting for market development.