What is the future prospect of DMSO

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a sulfur-containing organic compound, colorless and odorless transparent liquid at room temperature, soluble in ethanol, propanol, benzene and chloroform and other most organic matter, known as the “universal solvent”. Due to the special status of dimethyl sulfoxide “universal solvent”, the industry has paid more attention to this product. The market situation of DMSO was briefly analyzed in this paper.

1. What are the production processes of dimethyl sulfoxide?

According to the investigation, the DMSO production process is divided into methanol carbon disulfide method, hydrogen peroxide method, nitrogen dioxide method, dimethyl sulfate method and solution recovery method. At present, the mainstream production process is methanol carbon disulfide method, that is, methanol and carbon disulfide to produce dimethyl sulfide, and then with nitrogen dioxide to produce dimethyl sulfoxide.

The mainstream process route is as follows:

Figure 1 Process flow chart of methanol carbon disulfide process

FIG. 2 Hydrogen peroxide method

Figure 3 Nitrogen dioxide method

Figure 4 dimethyl sulfate method

2. What is the current market size of DMSO?

According to the survey of Pingtou brother, the overall production capacity of dimethyl sulfoxide in China is currently close to 70,000 tons/year, which has shown a slow growth trend in the past few years. On the one hand, DMSO has high environmental protection requirements, and some old devices have been phased out in the past few years, such as Lunan Chemical, Fengxi Xinjiang, Suzhou Lianxiong Fine Chemical, Guizhou Xingfa and so on. On the other hand, due to the higher environmental protection requirements in the production process, many projects under construction have been delayed in obtaining the construction permit, and new projects have been delayed, resulting in the overall growth rate of China’s DMSO market.

China’s representative production enterprises, such as Cangzhou Dongli Fine Chemical Co., LTD., Xinjiang Xingfa Chemical Co., LTD., Chongqing Xingfa Jinguan Chemical Co., LTD., Jilin City Herun Chemical Co., LTD. Guizhou Xingfa Chemical Co., Ltd. is the largest dimethyl sulfoxide manufacturer in China, with an annual production capacity of nearly 30,000 tons. The second is Chongqing Xingfa Jinguan Chemical Co., LTD., a branch of Xingfa Group in Chongqing, with an annual production capacity of nearly 20,000 tons. The third is Xinjiang Xingfa Chemical Co., LTD., with an annual production capacity of nearly 20,000 tons, which is also a branch of Xingfa Group in Xinjiang.

China’s DMSO production capacity is mainly concentrated in the hands of Xingfa Group, accounting for more than 70% of China’s DMSO production scale, which belongs to the monopoly production position.

3, dimethyl sulfoxide downstream application in which industries?

Dimethyl sulfoxide is known as a “universal solvent” and has a wide range of downstream applications, being used in medicine, pesticides, carbon fiber, electronics and other fields.

In the field of medicine, dimethyl sulfoxide is mainly used as a solvent for external drugs, as a pharmaceutical excipient and a solvent for drug synthesis. Due to its excellent solution and permeability, it is widely used in anti-inflammatory, analgesic, blood circulation promoting drugs, as well as in diuretic, sedation and other drugs.

In the field of pesticides, as a reaction solvent, the conversion rate and yield of pesticides in the production process can be significantly improved, such as as a reaction solvent for the synthesis of herbicides trifluorocarboxyfen and fluosulfanilfen, as a reaction solvent for the synthesis of monocrotophos, pyrimidine phosphorus, diyanon and other important intermediates of insecticides, ketenone reaction solvent. And the reaction solvent of fluoronitrobenzene as an intermediate for the preparation of fluorinated herbicides and other pesticides.

In the field of electronics, dimethyl sulfoxide is mainly used as a cleaning agent and stripping agent for electronic components, and it is irreplaceable in some fields. With the revolutionary changes in 5G communication, big data, Internet of Things, automotive electronics, industrial automation, and other fields, the demand for DMSO will be further stimulated.

In the field of carbon fiber, dimethyl sulfoxide has been used in acrylonitrile polymerization and spinning process, mainly as a solvent carrier.

Figure 5 Proportion of DMSO downstream consumption

4. What is the future prospect of DMSO?

Methylsulfoxide is widely used in the downstream field, especially in some areas of rapid development, which is one of the main reasons why it is concerned.

According to incomplete statistics, the gross profit margin of dimethyl sulfoxide production exceeds 15%, which is a relatively high-profit product. Looking at China’s bulk chemicals, most products are difficult to reach the 15% profitability level. In addition, the dimethyl sulfoxide downstream consumer market maintains an annual growth rate of more than 5%, and the future growth rate is very stable, which also provides a larger development space and feasibility for dimethyl sulfoxide.

Dimethyl sulfoxide still has certain development space in the future, and the development prospect is good.