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Although dyestuffs are one of the oldest chemical businesses of all, a significant part of the dyestuff market remains a specialty chemicals business. This situation is demonstrated by the fact that, particularly in the textile industry, nearly 10,000 different color shades are used, and a medium-sized finisher may well use up to 100 different shades per day.
The industry has lately experienced major setbacks in terms of profitability and overall attractiveness, particularly in Western Europe. Also, the textile industry, clearly the largest dyestuff market segment, remains in a phase of fierce and globally increasing competition. A significant part of this industry's production is a commodity type of operation not able to afford higher-quality dyestuffs.
Major changes have taken place during the last decade, and today Asia has become the largest dyestuff market, accounting for about 42% of the value of the global dyestuff market.
The value of the global dyestuff market in 1999 is estimated at $6.6 billion, an 18% drop in value from 1996. North America accounted for $1.2 billion, Central and South America for $0.7 billion, Western Europe for $1.2 billion, and Asia (including Japan), for $2.7 billion. The following pie chart shows the approximate breakdown of the world dyestuff market:
As one of the oldest chemical industries, the dyestuff industry has developed a very high degree of internationalization. The very fragmented types of consuming industries, particularly the textile and leather industries, have been the reason for an equally fragmented dyestuff industry, where often the largest producers coexist with tiny family-operated companies manufacturing in China and India. Over the last three to four decades, the number of players has increased dramatically, leading to a highly competitive industry.
Over the past ten years, global competition has reduced profit margins. While other business units of traditional dye producers (e.g., life science-related areas such as pharmaceuticals) reported substantial profits, the dyestuff business was regarded as an in-creasing financial burden. Forced by poor financial prospects, the first bold reorganization took place at ICI in 1993 with the spinoff of its specialty chemicals and dyestuff businesses. This move was followed in 1995 with the formation of a textile dyestuff joint venture between Bayer and Hoechst, named DyStar, and in the same year the divestiture of the specialty chemicals business of Sandoz, carried out through the formation of an independent shareholding company, Clariant.
Several thousand different synthetic dyes have been developed, as a result of the many different types of substrates to which dyes are applied, the different performance characteristics for which dyes are selected and the cost that a particular user can bear.
The dye industry of today is still characterized by a large, but decreasing, number of producers (estimated to be about 2,000 worldwide) with a significant concentration in Asia. However, in 2000 four Western companies accounted for nearly half of the market. In order to distinguish themselves, many dyestuff manufacturers seek differentiation by offering dyes that aid the dyer in energy savings, reduce pollution, save water, increase efficient dye and chemical usage, and increase productivity through simpler and safer processes, and safer dye products - and to accomplish all these aims with no adverse effect on the quality of the finished product. For over a decade now, companies in Asia, particularly in China and India, have also become very successful in the lower to medium tiers of the dyestuff business.
Although the dyestuff business was probably one of the very first chemical businesses, its relative importance has continuously diminished. It is estimated that of the total world chemical turnover in 1997 of about $1.4 trillion, the dyestuff industry contributed about $9.2 billion - about 0.7% of the total. The regionally different development paths of the chemical industry, influenced largely by raw material availability, are the reason why the contribution share in certain regions, such as Western Europe (1.0%) and Asia (1.7%), is higher than in other regions, such as North America (0.3%). However, because of the increasing maturity of the dyestuff industry, its relative importance is decreasing in every region.
Environmental issues associated with dyestuff production and application are as old as commercial dyeing: public concerns about odors and colored effluents - issues even for the ancient Greeks - have frequently led to regulations.
During the last decade, environmental issues associated with dyestuff production and application have grown significantly and are indisputably among the major driving forces affecting the textile dye industry today.
The main environmental issues related to the dyestuff industry can be grouped into air, water, land use, health and safety, and waste management issues. The big issues are related to water pollution and health and safety issues. In the United States, Western Europe and Japan, waste management issues related to the dyestuff industry are generally regarded as less critical and well under control, and other issues such as air and soil pollution are perceived as the least critical issues within the dyestuff industry. In China and India, however, air pollution and soil pollution by the dyestuff industry are of relatively high importance. This difference is due mainly to technological deficiencies at the large majority of dyestuff producers and consumers, and to the different industry structure - a very large number of smaller industry players are not in a financial position to implement even the most rudimentary environmental protection measures. Climate also plays a part in these regional differences, particularly in India and China, where monsoons and typhoons may have a severe impact on dyestuff production facilities.
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