3-Hydroxypropionic acid is expensive and market demand is limited

3-hydroxypropionic acid (abbreviated as 3-HP) is an achiral organic acid with three carbon atoms. The acid dissociation constant (pKa) is 4.5. It is liquid, viscous, and colorless. Odorless, soluble in water, ethanol and ether. 3-Hydroxypropionic acid is an isomer of lactic acid (2-hydroxypropionic acid). Due to the different positions of the hydroxyl groups, its chemical properties are more active.

At present, the internationally common synthesis methods of 3-hydroxypropionic acid include chemical synthesis and biological transformation. There are many types of synthetic raw materials, including propylene, 3-hydroxypropionitrile, glucose, glycerin, etc. Among them, the chemical synthesis method is currently the main production process, but there are problems such as complex processes and serious pollution. Production using this method is more likely to be restricted by environmental protection policies, which is not conducive to the long-term stable development of enterprises. Microbial transformation method can effectively make up for its shortcomings and is expected to become the development trend of 3-hydroxypropionic acid technology in the future.

From the perspective of application research, 3-hydroxypropionic acid has a wide range of downstream applications and can be used to synthesize a variety of important chemical products such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, propylene glycol, acrylamide, and biodegradable plastics poly3-hydroxypropionic acid, etc. It can also be used as an additive and preservative for food or feed. Moreover, 3-hydroxypropionic acid has been listed by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the 12 most promising chemical products in the world, and it has great commercial value. However, in practical applications, due to the immature technology of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, the industrialization process is very slow, and the scale of 3-hydroxypropionic acid production enterprises is generally very small, resulting in high production costs and high product prices. According to the released “2022-2027 3-hydroxypropionic acid industry market in-depth research and investment prospect forecast analysis report”, 2016- In 2021, the price of 3-hydroxypropionic acid in China will be more than 15,000 yuan/kg.

Another reason why the price of 3-hydroxypropionic acid remains high is that there are currently very few manufacturers in the 3-hydroxypropionic acid industry, which mainly produce on an order basis. Since downstream customers have little choice space, their bargaining power is very low. , can only passively accept the market price. The main manufacturers in China’s 3-hydroxypropionic acid industry include Hubei Hengjingrui Chemical Co., Ltd., Tianmen Hengchang Chemical Co., Ltd., Hubei Xinmingtai Chemical Co., Ltd., Wuhan Xinweiye Chemical Co., Ltd., Shanghai Jinjinle Industrial Co., Ltd., etc. .

Industrial analysts said that the current industrial production technology of 3-hydroxypropionic acid is an important factor hindering the development of the industry. Mature, product production costs are high, downstream demand is weak, and there are not many manufacturing companies. In the future, my country’s 3-hydroxypropionic acid production enterprises will continue to increase investment in related production technologies and promote the improvement of industry technology levels, which will in turn drive down product production costs and promote product price reductions.