Commodities world annual production

Table G.2. Commodities world annual production in decreasing order (2005) ...

Acetic acid is an important bulk commodity chemical, with world annual production capacity of ca. 7 million tonnes. The principal use (ca. 40%) of acetic acid is in the manufacture of vinyl acetate, a monomer of great importance in the polymer industry. A variety of other acetate esters are also... 

Sucrose is one of the leading world-commodities its current annual production in all forms exceeds ninety million tons. The potential of this regenerable, almost ubiquitous, natural product as a chemical raw-material has been extensively explored. However, the actual commercial success achieved has, so far, been insignificant. This can be attributed primarily to the lack of understanding of the basic chemistry of sucrose. During the last decade, efforts have, therefore, been concentrated on the study of the fundamental aspects of the chemistry of this molecule. The development of improved, or modem, synthetic methods and analytical techniques has led to the preparation and characterization of a large number of sucrose derivatives on which its commercial utilization may hopefully be based. 

The annual world coffee production is about 8 million tonnes, worth about 16 billion to producers. Coffee is the second most valuable legally traded commodity after oil and 25 million people worldwide gain their living from coffee. Starbucks purchase about 140,000 tonnes of coffee each year and customers spend about 4 billion in their cafes coffee is the largest imported food in the United States. A remarkable 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day—20% in the United States. 

Polyethylene (PE) is the largest synthetic commodity polymer in terms of annual production and is widely used throughout the world in a variety of applications. Based on the density, PE is classified as LDPE at 0.910-0.930g/cm3, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) at 0.931-0.970g/cm3, and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) based on the polymer chain microstructure. At present, processes that produce PE use the following raw materials ... 

The Lead Chamber process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid was developed in the 1740s by John Roebuck, then based in Birmingham. Production of this key commodity rose steadily. By the 1820s, British annual production had reached 10,000 tons of 100% acid. By 1900, Britain was producing one quarter of the world s output with an annual production approaching one million tons. 

The estimated value of domestic (nonfuel) mineral raw materials mined in the United States is 40 biUion (net imports into the United States amount to 29 billion) Nine of these minerals have an annual production value of over 1 billion at the present time. These are mainly commodity construction materials such as sand and gravel but also include key metals such as gold, copper, iron, as well as phosphate rock. For some important minerals the United States depends entirely on exports and conscientious exploitation of the ore resources in foreign countries will be crucial to domestic economic development. Ores of precious and rare-earth metals, for instance, cannot be replenished in a practical time scale and their applications typically do not allow these to be recycled effectively. An energy-rich material-poor world is as bleak a prospect as one with no future energy options. 

In compact-disc (and DVD) manufacturing, the upper face is usually made of an inexpensive polycarbonate or made of a copolycarbonate. The face is covered by a very thin metal layer (usually Al) which reflects diode-laser light. The metallic layer must be protected by a plastic layer (this constitutes the lower face). It is made of polystyrene (or other commodity plastic). The annual production of PC around the world was about 3500 thousand tons in 2007 (5). There are more than ten industries around the world which produce PC. For a long time polycarbonate market needs were satisfied by only two manufacturers, i.e. the GE plastics (an american company renamed SABIC Innovative Plastics in 2007) and Bayer (a German firm). Later other manufacturers have joined them - Dow Chemical, Samyang, Asahi Kasei and Teijin. The most popular PC trade names are LEXAN , CALIBER, SINVETTM, MAKROLONTM. Popular names for PC-PET blends are listed elsewhere (16). 

The annual production of HDPE reached 28 million tons in 2006. With a consumption of 4.0 kg per capita, it is the third-largest plastic commodity material in the world after poly(vinyl chloride) and polypropylene. 

Similar to other commercial commodities, sulfur is stockpiled or vatted when production exceeds demand. Inventories of elemental sulfur held by U.S. producers peaked at 5.6 million metric tons in 1977 inventories held by Canadian producers in Alberta, Canada, peaked at 20.6 million metric tons in 1978 and 1979. By 1995, annual U.S. production of sulfur in all forms had grown to 11.5 million metric tons and apparent consumption of sulfur in all forms was about 13.2 million metric tons the annual growth rate was about 3% during the 1970s and 1980s. In North America, discretionary sulfur output decreased to about 2.9 million metric tons in 1995 as overall world demand for sulfur declined. During this same period, nondiscretionary sulfur output constantly increased (21,33). 

The present utilization of carbohydrates as a feedstock for the chemical industry is modest, when considering their ready availability, low cost and huge potential [92], The bulk of the annually renewable carbohydrate biomass consists of polysaccharides, but their non-food utilization is still modest. The low-molecular-weight carbohydrates, that is, the constituent units of these polysaccharides, are potential raw materials for several commodity chemicals in fact, glucose (available from cornstarch, bagasse, molasses, wood), fructose (inulin), xylose (hemicelluloses) or the disaccharide sucrose (world production 140 Mtons year-1) are inexpensive and available on a scale of several ten thousands. 

The Australian domestic nitric acid market was found to suffer from cyclical variations, with seasonal highs and lows each year. This fluctuation is attributed to the major acid consumers (fertilizer and explosives manufacturers) being susceptible to seasonal variations in demand, and to the level of world commodity prices. However, the overall trend has been for 3% annual growth. Current Australian production is 200 000 tonnes each year (100% acid basis). Exports from and imports into Australia are virtually non-existent. A protective barrier in the form of high shipping costs, has in the past effectively closed the domestic market. 

Catalysis refers to the phenomenon by which the rate of a chemical reaction is accelerated by a snbstance (the catalyst) not appreciably consnmed in the process. The term catalysis was coined by Berzelins in 1835 and scientifically defined by Ostwald in 1895, but applications based on catalysis can be traced back to thousands of years ago with the discovery of fermentation to produce wine and beer. Nowadays, catalysts are used in 80% of all chemical industrial processes, and create annual global sales of about 1500 billion dollars and contribute directly or indirectly to approximately 35% of the world s GDP. Catalysis is central to a myriad of applications, including the manufacture of commodity, fine, specialty, petro-, and agro- chemicals as well as the production of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foods, and polymers. Catalysis is also an important component in new processes for the generation of clean energy, and in the protection of the enviromnent both by abating environmental pollutants and by providing alternative cleaner chemical synthetic procedures. 

A tabulation similar to Table 13.1, but listing tbe major polymers and copolymers manufactured in the United States, is shown in Table 13.2. Many of the polymers and copolymers in this table and their applications were developed during and after World War II, and most are manufactured from the higher ranked organic commodities listed in Table 13.1 by traditional thermochemical polymerization. Petroleum and natural gas are the primary raw materials. With few exceptions, the polymeric products from these feedstocks have annual values of more than 1 billion. It is evident that consumer demand for plastics and rubbers is very large and that the market for polymers and copolymers has exhibited good growth. 

Acetic acid is a key commodity building block [1], Its most important derivative, vinyl acetate monomer, is the largest and fastest growing outlet for acetic acid. It accounts for an estimated 40 % of the total global acetic acid consumption. The majority of the remaining worldwide acetic acid production is used to manufacture other acetate esters (i.e., cellulose acetates from acetic anhydride and ethyl, propyl, and butyl esters) and monoehloroacetic acid. Acetic acid is also used as a solvent in the manufacture of terephthalic acid [2] (cf. Section 2.8.1.2). Since Monsanto commercially introduced the rhodium- catalyzed carbonylation process Monsanto process ) in 1970, over 90 % of all new acetic acid capacity worldwide is produced by this process [2], Currently, more than 50 % of the annual world acetic acid capacity of 7 million metric tons is derived from the methanol carbonylation process [2]. The low-pressure reaction conditions, the high catalyst activity, and exceptional product selectivity are key factors for the success of this process in the acetic acid industry [13]. 

Starch. Starch, thermoplastic (qv) (41,42) is a major agricultural commodity and, by far, the most inexpensive commercial biopoljuner it is the only biopolymer that is competitive with polyethylene in price. Annual world production, over 32 million metric tons, is from corn (maize), potatoes, rice, tapioca (cassava), barley, wheat, and other crops. Approximately 16 million metric tons are produced in the United States each year, mainly by extraction from corn but also from potatoes, wheat, and other sources. 

Annual total world production of gypsum in 2010 exceeded 146 million metric tones (http / / minerals.usgs.gov/ minerals/ pubs/ commodity/). 

Coffee plants are cultivated in more than 80 countries around the world, with 70% being produced by smallholder farmers (De Los Santos-Briones Hemfindez-Sotomayor, 2006). More than lOOmillion people in the coffee-growing areas worldwide derive their income directly or indirectly from coffee production (Mishra Slater, 2012). Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of C. arabica (ABIC, 2010 Silva et al., 2013), followed by Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Indonesia, Ethiopia, India and Mexico. Coffee plantations eover about 10.6 million ha of land, mostly in the tropics (Clay, 2004), and the coffee trade has an annual turnover of close to 10 billion US, making it the second most important commodity traded in the world next to petroleum (Silva et al., 2013). 

Nitric acid is one of the 15 largest commodity chemicals with an annual world production of about 55 million tonnes. Approximately 80% is used as an intermediate in the production of nitrogeneous fertilizers (NH4NO3). The remainder goes into the production of various chemicals such as explosives or intermediates for polymers. 

This 5 billion (USD) petrochemical plant will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tons (3.3 billion pounds) of ethylene and will manufacture 1.0 million metric tons (2.2 billion pounds) of polyethylene. Note that ethylene capacity in a world-class complex usually exceeds the volume of polyethylene production. This excess ethylene capacity is either used to manufacture other ethylene-based chemicals at the same complex or is sold as a commodity chemical when access to a distribution pipeline is available. This plant will utilize ethane as the feedstock for ethylene, which has a cost advantage over ethylene plants that use oil-derived naphtha as feedstock. 

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