Premium
Historical and marketing trends of natural/synthetic fatty acids
Author(s) -
Johanson Arnold G.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02909053
Subject(s) - raw material , fatty acid , production (economics) , chemistry , business , biochemical engineering , economics , organic chemistry , microeconomics , engineering
and Summary As long as a substantial portion of raw materials for natural fatty acids are relatively inexpensive by‐products of other major industries, natural fatty acids should fulfill the world's projected needs at least through 1985. Production of synthetic fatty acids may also increase; however, at the present time the cost of their raw material and processing has made them largely noncompetitive, except in a few cases. Synthetic organic acid manufacturers currently supplying short chain products will continue their efforts to enter the detergent range fatty acid market area. We expect some breakthrough in synthetics during the life of our forecast. However, potential producers have yet to develop an economically competitive synthetic fatty acid as a replacement for natural fatty acids in the U.S. Petroleum‐based products include odd, even, and branched chain acids whose performance must be proven. Finally, the petroleum base for synthetic fatty acids no longer has the price stability we have been accustomed to in the past. Recent changes in price of ethylene and forecasts are evidence of this trends for the future.