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Many new fatty acid plants have been built in Southeast Asia, which is the major source of coconut, palm and palm kernel oils used as raw materials for C8-C14 fatty acids. Altogether, producers of fatty acids from oil splitting in these countries (excluding China and India) have a total capacity of almost 2 million metric tons. Significant amounts of this increasing production are being exported to other world areas, including North America, Western Europe and Japan, all three of which are now net importers of fatty acids derived from fat and oil splitting.
Worldwide production of fatty acids from splitting is dominated by two large producers—the Uniqema Group (formerly known as the Unichema Group and now owned by the Imperial Chemical Industries PLC) and the Cognis Group. The Uniqema Group operates four plants in different European countries, one plant in the United States and a joint venture in Malaysia, all with a total capacity of over 800 thousand metric tons. The Cognis Group operates one plant in the United States, one in Canada, one in Europe and a joint venture in Malaysia, with a total annual capacity of over 400 thousand metric tons. These capacity estimates exclude any fatty acid capacity that is part of the continuous soapmaking process and also exclude any capacity in Latin America or Eastern Europe. Indonesian producers Acidchem, Palm Oleo and Natural Oleochemicals also account for a significant amount of fatty acid splitting capacity. Another large producer is the Akzo Nobel Chemical Group, which operates plants in North America, Europe and Asia. In North America, Twin Rivers Technologies is a major producer.
By far the largest worldwide tall oil fatty acid (TOFA) producer is the International Paper Company, which owns Arizona Chemical in the United States as well as TOFA producers in Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It operates five plants.
Global fatty acids supply continues to exceed fatty acids demand. In 2004, capacity utilization rates increased slightly in North America to about 85–90%. Industry sources believe that European capacity utilization is less (71%) than in North America. In Southeast Asia, capacity utilization rates are reported to be running at 80–90%. Asia currently accounts for 35% of global production and is expected to account for more than 50% of global fatty acid production by 2010.
Whether used as such or in the form of various derivatives, fatty acids are ultimately consumed in a wide variety of end-use industries. The economic growth of many of these industries (e.g., rubber, plastics and detergents) is often a good indicator of the overall economic performance of a region. Not surprisingly, historical growth in the consumption of fatty acids has tended to approximate growth in regional GNP.
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