Green becomes a speciality

While the media focus on renewable chemical companies seeking to change the commodity chemical landscape, other start-up companies are gaining ground by entering the specialty chemicals arena, attracted by lower capital costs and higher profit margins. Commodity markets, according to US-based Rivert...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICIS Chemical Business 2012-10, Vol.282 (9), p.S20
Main Author: De Guzman, Doris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capital costs
Chemical industry
Chemicals
Commodities
Profit margins
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:While the media focus on renewable chemical companies seeking to change the commodity chemical landscape, other start-up companies are gaining ground by entering the specialty chemicals arena, attracted by lower capital costs and higher profit margins. Commodity markets, according to US-based Rivertop Renewables, take significant capital to build a competitive position as the return only comes with big volumes. The company is developing a proprietary process for producing a chemical building block glucaric acid and its derivatives. Commodity chemicals are plagued by low margins but benefit from less market risk than specialty chemicals, says Kalib Kersh, analyst at US consulting firm Lux Research. According to several industry players, the market pull for specialty bio-based chemicals at present is strongest where the end product is "close to the skin," such as in cosmetics, cleaning products and the like.
ISSN:1937-5786
1750-1512