Isopropanol export analysis in the first three quarters of 2021 and development prospect analysis

By the end of October 2021, China had exported 92,100 tons of isopropyl alcohol, an average of 10,200 tons per month.  In the same period of 2020, China's exports totaled about 229,000 tons, averaging about 25,400 tons per month.  Total exports and average monthly exports have declined this year.

This phenomenon is caused by the serious epidemic abroad in 2020 and the perennial shutdown of isopropyl alcohol equipment abroad.  The outbreak of the epidemic has made the foreign market in short supply, from China to Europe and the United States and other regions of the arbitrage window greatly opened.

In particular, the import amount of April and May is much higher than the same period of this year, which makes the export of isopropanol increase greatly in 2020.  Although extreme weather equipment stopped in the first quarter of this year, the overall impact was not significant.  In addition, the export price of isopropyl alcohol in China has no advantage this year, so the export volume in the first three quarters of this year decreased significantly compared with last year.

Compared with other countries, the application field of isopropanol in China has not been effectively developed, which needs to be further expanded to drive the steady development of isopropanol industry. In foreign countries, isopropyl alcohol is mostly used for the disinfection of skin, artificial limbs and medical instruments. In some countries, isopropyl alcohol is the most widely used disinfectant in public places such as beauty salons, but it is rarely used in China. From the point of view of the effect, isopropyl alcohol contains two groups of methyl groups, so that it can dissolve lipids, permeability is stronger than ethanol, increase the ability to kill, some bacteria and viruses isopropyl alcohol killing effect is stronger than ethanol. In addition, compared to ethanol, isopropanol has a higher boiling point, is less volatile, is easier to preserve, and is safer and more reliable to use. Demand for isopropanol at home and abroad has also been boosted by the COVID-19 virus's worldwide spread and the scarcity of protective medical supplies.

The cleaning agent field of electronic industry is one of the fastest growing fields of isopropyl alcohol consumption in the world, and the demand is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 10%. In the field of cleaning agents, the main use of high-purity isopropanol as the cleaner of the semiconductor and metal ester cleaning agents, such as in Japan, high purity electronic grade ipa is important in microelectronics chemical reagent varieties, has been widely used in semiconductor production, very large scale integrated circuit assembly and processing in the process of cleaning and corrosion, etc. At present, the application of isopropanol in this field in China has just started and has great development potential.