At the 7th ICIS World Oleochemicals Conference Croda presented its view on the glycerin market

Glycerin continues to be a very important building block for the chemical industry and as an ingredient into consumer products

A couple of new applications based on Glycerin as a raw material are coming up. EpiChlorohydrin, MonoPropylene Glycol and BioMethanol are the biggest ones.  

It is still unsure at what speed and to what extend this will happen. Also growing markets as India and India will see a exaggerated growth due to increased welfare and the use of Glycerin in many luxury products.

Today there is a structural overcapacity in refining worldwide and some traditional payers have reduced their activity due to the low profitability of the business. Glycerin is a co-product of fatty acid, fatty alcohol and biodiesel production. Over the last 10 years the of Biodiesel has grown with big numbers from 9% then to 64 % now of the total. Therefore on the Supply Side Biodiesel is the main driver now.

Biodiesel is very dependant on decisions taken in politics and the development of next generation Biofuels. So far we expect this to grow steadily over the next couple of years, due to the backing of local politicians despite strong opposition of environmental groups and scientific reports.The food versus fuel debate is still a topic that could strike back at the Biodiesel support very suddenly if the economy picks up and food prices increase.

Overall the Glycerin market will remain its volatility over the next couple of years and it is hard to predict what is happening further than a few months out.

If you like to view the full Croda presentation "Glycerine market brief" as presented at the ICIS Conference by Vincent Bogaart, marketing manager oleochemicals, please register for Croda Direct our Customer Extranet.