Glycerine to continue downward trend - Solvay

10 July 2008 08:45  [Source: ICIS news]

HAINAN, China (ICIS news)--The downtrend in refined glycerine prices will continue, as a rise in global demand for its co-product biodiesel will increase glycerine availability, a senior official from Solvay said on Thursday.

Glycerine is a co-product of biodiesel production, with one unit produced for every ten units of biodiesel manufactured. 

"We are confident that the government organisations will continue to encourage biodiesel production," Arnaud Valenduc, managing director of Solvay Biochemicals (Thailand) said on the sidelines of the 2008 Epoxy Resins & Raw Materials Forum.

The implementation of mandatory biodiesel blending in various countries throughout the world would ensure a consistent supply of glycerine, he added.

Spikes in refined glycerine prices seen last year had earlier cast a shadow on the prospects of projects using the commodity as an alternative feedstock for traditional petrochemical applications.

A sharp downward correction in prices over the past three months, however, has made it viable for practices like Solvay’s patented glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin (GTE) process to continue, he said.

The company currently has two GTE plants in Germany and France, with epichlorohydrin capacities of 56,000 and 40,000 tonnes/year respectively.

The start-up of its new GTE plant in Thailand in 2010 would bring its total GTE capacity to 196,000 tonnes/year, he added.

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By: Jeremiah Chan
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