Rosin price

Rosin and its derivatives are economically the most important natural resins. Approximately 1150 x 10 metric tons of these materials are produced annually and sold throughout the world. The principal producers are the People s RepubHc of China (ca 40%) and the United States (ca 25%), followed by Russia. Most of the remainder is produced in Indonesia, Portugal, Finland, India, Bra2il, and Mexico. In 1996, the lowest grades of rosin were priced at 750/t. Most rosin is converted to its many derivatives to meet requirements for industrial appHcations. The principal producers of rosin derivatives are Ari2ona Chemical Company, Hercules Incorporated, Westvaco, Union Camp, and Georgia-Pacific. 

Polyterpenes. Polyterpenes is one of the first classes of non-polar tack-ifiers to be developed. Terpene monomers are a by-product in the extraction of rosin from wood stumps or tree sap, and from the extraction of oils from citrus fruits. The latter is the dominant source. As such, polyterpene prices generally mirror those of citrus fruits, which fluctuate substantially from one growing season to the next. Terpenes like rosin are cyclic, see Fig. 6, which is partly responsible for their excellent solvent properties. 

A change in the supply situation of Vinsol resin with a commensurate price increase as well as the more widespread use of supplementary materials led almost all admixture companies to reformulate their air-entraining agents using synthetic or alternative natural products such as tall oil or rosins. In a period of about 2 years, a product that had been in dominant use for 40 years was relegated to a lesser role in the industry. 

For example, it is no use using large amounts of expensive sizing agent for a low-cost product, such as newsprint, unless it is possible to obtain a premium price for the product. Other examples are using rosin size in highly filled paper with calcium carbonate, when the use of AKD/ASA is far more efficient due to the system pH. 

Unlike rosin and AKD sizes, because of its reactive nature, ASA cannot be supplied as a ready to add product. It has to be made into a dispersion at the paper machine and added within a short time, normally less than 30 min. This means that it has to be mixed with a cationic component and emulsified with equipment which is supplied by the size supplier. This was an expensive and problematic area, with the costs being added to the price of the ASA itself. But in the past 10 years, technology has improved so that the application costs have been reduced to only slightly more than a sophisticated pumping system and the application technology has improved the reliability/efficiency of the product. This has meant that ASA has changed from... 

The international market of gum resin is quite variable, affecting the trade values of turpentine and rosin. Besides international standards usually required (particular chemical composition of turpentine, and specific physical properties of rosin, [76]), the prices of gum resin exported (and its by-products) may be subject to negotiation, depending on the type of customer (end user or fractionator) and the amount of tons purchased. For instance, in 2008, the average value of turpentine exported from Brazil was US 1,023.46/t Free on Board (FOB) however, the charged prices for France (the main customer of Brazilian turpentine, Table 136.2) and Spain (which acquired 584,600 kg in 2008) were US 848.85A FOB and US 1,169.88/t FOB, respectively [131]. 

Solvent drying of conifer woods with water-miscible solvents such as acetone, however, remains economically unfavorable because of solvent losses and energy requirements. A limited quantity of perfumery-grade pine needle oil can be obtained from a few Pinus species, but the needle oils from most species too closely resemble turpentines to command the premium prices that would justify the production costs. Although the rosins that could be derived from needles of many pines are essentially similar to the xylem rosins, the needle rosins from other species are of unusual composition. Such rosins could be the source of specialty fine chemicals but would not have any significant impact on rosin as a commodity material. The composition of the resin acids in pine needles may be an important characteristic in chemoteixonomic and genetic studies (18). 

The production of resin acids and terpenes from pine stump extraction and the distillation of tapped gum (oleoresin), sulfate turpentine, and kraft tall oil are equal to or greater than the existing markets, most of which continue to show marginal declines. The net results are depressed pricing and a somewhat cloudy future, particularly for tall oil rosin, which is faced with changing technology in one of its major end-uses - paper-sizing additives. 

Since TMA is a petroleum based chemical, its price and supply are likely to be affected adversely in the future. In an attempt to find a suitable substitute for TMA, we have developed gum rosin, the exudate of conifer trees such as pine, as a source of raw materials for polyesterimide "" and polyamideimide resins. Our present program aims at the development of gum rosin as cheap, dependable and renewable source of raw material for polymers that are expected to be a substitute for TMA-based polymers and other thermostable polymers. 

---