Intermediates prices

Countries with intermediate prices UK, Australia and Canada. 

Figure 4. Cotton linters vs. urethane intermediates. Price index (12/1975 = 100).

All these routes use known reactions and are about the same length. Do you notice that no less than three have the unsaturated acid 353A as an intermediate. If we need to try out new reactions it is best to choose a route with a common intermediate (353A here) so that if one route fails we can use the same intermediate for another. We can then choose between the three routes on cost. The 1977 prices of the starting materials are p-chlorobenzaldehyde 9.80/500g diethyl rnalonate 2.80/500g... 

Both items are repeated until the intermediates are reasonably priced commercial starting materials. The resulting antithetic schemes are then evaluated and the most promising ones can be converted into synthetic plans and be investigated in the laboratory. 

Aliphatic Isocyanates. Aflphatic diisocyanates have traditionally commanded a premium price because the aflphatic amine precursors ate mote expensive than aromatic diamines. They ate most commonly used in appHcafions which support the added cost or where the long-term performance of aromatic isocyanates is unacceptable. Monofuncfional aflphatic isocyanates, such as methyl and -butyl isocyanate, ate used as intermediates in the production of carbamate-based and urea-based insecticides and fungicides (see Fungicides, agricultural Insectcontroltechnology). 

The high cost of coal handling and preparation and treatment of effluents, compounded by continuing low prices for cmde oil and natural gas, has precluded significant exploitation of coal as a feedstock for methanol. A small amount of methanol is made from coal in South Africa for local strategic reasons. Tennessee Eastman operates a 195,000-t/yr methanol plant in Tennessee based on the Texaco coal gasification process to make the methyl acetate intermediate for acetic anhydride production (15). 

Phosphoms compounds are manufactured for a variety of uses, either direcdy or as intermediates in the production of other compounds. Manufacturing of the largest-volume products is summari2ed in Table 15, and prices are given in Table 16. Phosphoms trichloride and phosphoms pentasulfide are the compounds in highest demand. Phosphoms trichloride production increased steadily from 1985 through the mid-1990s. Up to 36% of PCl is used for pesticide products. 

LGP Economics. LCPs are expensive materials. Prices in January 1996 (248) ranged from 15.20/kg for mineral-filled resin, 15.73— 23.43/kg for glass-fiHed resin, and up to 48.40/kg for unfilled extmsion-grade polymer. One of the basic reasons is the fundamental high cost of monomers and intermediates which is a consequence of low volume. 

Production figures for the aminophenols are scarce, the compounds usually being classified along with many other aniline derivatives (86). Most production of the technical grade materials (95% purity) occurs on-site as they are chiefly used as intermediate reactants in continuous chemical syntheses. World production of the fine chemicals (99% purity) is probably no more than a few hundred metric tons yearly, at prices of about 45 per kg in 1990. 

As a pharmaceutical, methyl salicylate is used in liniments and ointments for the relief of pain and for rheumatic conditions. As a flavor and fragrance agent, it is used in confectioneries, dentifrices, cosmetics, and perfumes. Other commercial applications for methyl salicylate are as a dye carrier, as a uv-light stabilizer in acrylic resins, and as a chemical intermediate. The May 1996 price was 5.50/kg (18). 

The production of sihcon tetrachloride by these methods was abandoned worldwide in the early 1980s. Industrial tetrachlorosilane derives from two processes associated with trichlorosilane, the direct reaction of hydrogen chloride on sihcon primarily produced as an intermediate for fumed sihca production, and as a by-product in the disproportionation reaction of trichlorosilane to silane utilized in microelectronics. Substantial quantities of tetrachlorosilane are produced as a by-product in the production of zirconium tetrachloride, but this source has decreased in the 1990s owing to reduction in demand for zirconium in nuclear facihties (see Nuclearreactors). The price of tetrachlorosilane varies between l/kg and 25/kg, depending on grade and container. 

G in the presence of a catalytic amount of a Lewis base such as dimethylether, (GH2)20. In addition to the gas-phase pyrolysis of diborane, can be prepared by a solution-phase process developed at Union Garbide Gorp. Decaborane is a key intermediate in the preparation of many carboranes and metaHa derivatives. As of this writing, this important compound is not manufactured on a large scale in the western world and is in short supply. Prices for decaborane in 1991 were up to 10,000/kg. 

The outstanding chemical property of cyanohydrins is the ready conversion to a-hydroxy acids and derivatives, especially a-amino and a,P-unsaturated acids. Because cyanohydrins are primarily used as chemical intermediates, data on production and prices are not usually pubUshed. The industrial significance of cyanohydrins is waning as more direct and efficient routes to the desired products are developed. Acetone cyanohydrin is the world s most prominent industrial cyanohydrin because it offers the main route to methyl methacrylate manufacture. 

Intermediates vary in complexity, usually related to the number of chemical and operational stages in their manufacture, and therefore cost. Prices may be classed as cheap (less than 1500/t, as with primaries), average ( 1500 to 5000/t) or expensive (more than 5000/t). 

Transfer pricing of intermediates produced and used internally in the same organization comes under product costs. Even the choice of name, ie, transfer cost or transfer price, reflects the differing viewpoints of the internal consumer and producer. 

Seb cic Acid. Sebacic acid [111-20-6] C QH gO, is an important intermediate in the manufacture of polyamide resins (see Polyamides). It has an estimated demand worldwide of approximately 20,000 t/yr. The alkaline hydrolysis of castor oil (qv), which historically has shown some wide fluctuations in price, is the conventional method of preparation. Because of these price fluctuations, there have been years of considerable interest in an electrochemical route to sebacic acid based on adipic acid [124-04-9] (qv) as the starting material. The electrochemical step involves the Kolbn-type or Brown-Walker reaction where anodic coupling of the monomethyl ester of adipic acid forms dimethyl sebacate [106-79-6]. The three steps in the reaction sequence from adipic acid to sebacic acid are as follows ... 

Ultrafiltration (qv) (uf) is increasingly used to remove water, salts, and other low molecular-weight impurities (21) water may be added to wash out impurities, ie, diafiltration. Ultrafiltration is rarely used to fractionate the proteins because the capacity and yield are too low when significant protein separation is achieved. Various vacuum evaporators are used to remove water to 20—40% dry matter. Spray drying is used if a powdery intermediate product is desired. Tyophilization (freeze-drying) is only used for heat-sensitive and highly priced enzymes. 

Feed capacity is limited by putting a given amount of feed (RHS) in a feed capacity tank. The other type of limit is that necessary to keep flows from accumulating or stacking in the middle of the plant in one of the intermediate tanks (rows). To inhibit this stacking, high prices are placed on any material accumulation. These are called slack prices (SPRICES). 

More sophisticated procedures involve taking the start MO coefficients from a semi-empirical calculation, such as Extended HUckel Theory (EHT) or Intermediate Neglect of Differential Overlap (INDO) (Sections 3.12 and 3.9). The EHT method has the advantage that it is readily parameterized for all elements, and it can provide start orbitals for systems involving elements from essentially the whole periodic table. An INDO calculation normally provides better start orbitals, but at a price. The INDO... 

More than 60 percent of natural gas physically consumed in the course of a year is nevertheless attributable to purchases at lower, interruptible prices by industrial boilcr-fucl users and electrical generators that are capable of substituting natural gas in off-peak months, when gas is available at prices competitive with those of black fuels (coal and heavy fuel oil). In addition to these relatively low-value, pricc-scnsitivc industrial gas uses is a wide range of intermediate-value demand categories for natural gas, such as in process and feedstock use. 

Fine chemicals are products of high and well-defined purity, which are manufactured in relatively small amounts and sold at relatively high price. Although a question of taste, reasonable limits would be lOkton/year and 10/kg (Stinson, 1998, Section 2.1 of this book). Fine chemicals can be divided in two basic groups those that are used as intermediates for other products, and those that by their nature have a specific activity and are used based on their performance characteristics. Performance chemicals are used as active ingredients or additives in formulations, and as aids in processing. 

Similarly, low volume chemicals are classified according to whether they are sold primarily on the basis of specification or performance. Specialties are generally formulations that are sold on the basis of their performance and their prices reflect their value rather than cost of production. Producers of specialty chemicals often provide extensive technical service to their customers. Examples of specialty chemicals include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, flavours and fragrances, specialty polymers, etc. Fine chemicals, on the other hand, are produced to customer specifications and are often intermediates or active ingredients for specialty chemicals, e.g. pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and bulk actives. 

Where is the dividing line between bulk and fine chemicals Here again there is no universally accepted definition. Nonetheless, a useful definition of a fine chemical is one with a price of more than 10 US dollars/kg and a volume of less than 10,000 tons per annum. The latter is rather a large volume for most fine chemicals, e.g. most pharmaceutical intermediates are produced in quantities of less than 100 tons per annum. In practice, the type of technology used is probably more dictated by volume than by product application. 

The cross-dimerization reaction is very commonly employed for the manufacture of intermediates for synthetic musks, which have become an important class of perfumery chemicals. Synthetic musks have been the target of extensive research over the years due to a conservation order placed on the musk deer. Nitro musks are being steadily replaced by non-nitro polycyclic musks becau.se of technical drawbacks and health aspects of the former, which are explosive, sensitive, and virtually nonbiodegradable. Non-nitro musks, on the other hand exhibit better stability to light and alkali, and more nearly duplicate the odour of the macrocyclic musks occurring in nature. Indian musk odorants are easily soluble in alcohol and perfume compositions. They have the added advantage of non-discoloration in soap and domestic products. In view of the low price, their future in the perfume industry appears very promising. 

At the laboratory stage, data on substances involved and their mixtures must be gathered material properties, physicochemical data, ecological and toxicological data, costs of raw materials and intermediates, an estimate of product price, energy and equipment costs, etc. These data are needed in simulation programs and to determine toxicity, safety, and impact on the environment. The data on toxicity, degradability, and safety are required by the authorities to execute an approval procedure for the plant. 

---