MARKETS.
Glycerol Demands Improve By-product supply a n d imports smaller 5n 1954 but Shell is expanding synthetic this y e a r by 2 5 million pounds r~> LYCEROL production as a b y - p r o d u c t
^ ^ of t h e soap kettle w a s probably down more than 12 million pounds last year to about 205 million pounds, a resumption of t h e declining trend resulting from t h e shift from soap to d e tergents (Table I ) . Chemistry is responsible. W e are to m a k e more glycerol synthetically this year from propylene. You can attribute this to technology as well. Imports, our third source for glycerol, for various reasons a r e not as plentiful as in previous years. This takes u s into t h e realm of economics. Large foreign suppliers like Argentina have other markets for their glycerol besides t h e United States, a n d they may be willing to p a y more. In a n y event t h e domestic market for glycerol is quite firm a n d t h e r e fined product over t h e past few weeks has been in m u c h improved demand. Much of it h a s stemmed from alkyd resin producers, which take on an average about one third of all glycerol sold. Other important glycerol outlets a r e provided by cellophane, tobacco, drugs, and toiletries ( cosmetics ). Competitive Status. Thus glycerol d e m a n d can b e said to follow t h e general activity curve for industry, as pointed out b y Scott Pattison of t h e Association of American Soap a n d Glycerine Producers. During t h e first nine months of 1954 alkyd resin production was 266,214,000 pounds. Total for the same time in 1953 w a s 289,278,000 pounds. Glycerol n o w has its competitors in pentaerythritol a n d t h e ethylene glycols, a n d alkyd resins which are used in t h e coatings industry to t h e extent of 360 million pounds a year, have likewise acquired competing materials since they were first discovered b y General Electric researchers. Refined ( C . P . ) glycerol can meet most of t h e pentaerythritol competition at around present levels o| v 50 v çent§.per pound. T h e market for PET i& 3 2 "cents per pound, car or truckloads, at t h e plant. A two-cent reduction b y chemical manufacturers brought t h e market to that level last June following a r e duction in t h e price of formaldehyde. Alkyd.resins remain dominant in synthetic coatings field, especially for r e frigerators, other household appliances, automobiles, and h o m e interiors. Epoxy resin coatings are entering this field in competition with t h e alkyds, 274
the key properties of epoxies being their unusual water a n d alkali resistance. Some also believe t h a t latex formulations threaten to displace a part of t b e alkyd resin uses in paints.
Table I.
Crude Glycerol
( Production, thousands of pounds )
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total
1954 1953 17,938 18,745 17,778 18,511 20,985 20,120 18,798 18,221 18,482 16,493 18,199 15,690 13,722 13,128 16,707 17,976 18,471 16,431 21,215 16,467 17,020 16,370 18,453 — 188,152' 217,768
1952 17,659 17,740 17,513 18,079 12,516 11,708 10,362 15,390 15,664 18,350 15,937 16,984 187,902
° Eleven months. Bureau
