Polylactic Acid Monomer – Lactic Acid Market Analysis

Lactic acid, chemical name 2-hydroxypropionic acid, is an important organic acid. This product is a hydroxycarboxylic acid containing an asymmetric carbon atom in the molecule, and has optical isomers L(+) and D(-) and racemate (DL). With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, new uses of lactic acid are constantly being discovered, and its demand will also continue to increase. In addition, due to the popularity of polylactic acid in recent years, lactic acid, as a synthetic monomer of polylactic acid, has also received extensive attention, and it is expected to continue to grow, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.7% by 2025.

 

Application:

 

Because lactic acid has no side effects on the human body, is easy to absorb, and can directly participate in the metabolism in the body, it is widely used in the food processing industry. In the beer brewing process, adding lactic acid can not only control the invasion of bacteria, but also promote saccharification, increase the yield of wine, and prolong the storage period of beer. Lactic acid derivatives lactate and lactate are more widely used in food. For example, calcium lactate is used as a nutritional enhancer for calcium, ferrous lactate as an enhancer for iron, and zinc lactate as a enhancer for zinc, which are widely used in food, medicine and beverage industries; sodium lactate can be used as food preservatives, flavoring agents, antifreeze agents, Moisturizer etc. Sodium lactate has partially replaced sodium benzoate as a preservative in the food industry abroad.

 

In the pharmaceutical industry, lactic acid can be directly formulated into drugs or used as lactate. Sodium lactate is used as electrolyte and dialyzate in intravenous injection, as well as intestinal disinfectant, mouthwash and bladder injection, etc. Lactate is not only used as a lubricant for compressed pharmaceutical tablets in the pharmaceutical industry, but also can be used to prepare antihypertensive drugs propatiol and picolinic acid drugs. The pharmaceutical industry is the fastest growing industry and accounted for the majority of the market revenue in 2019, accounting for more than 9.1%. The effectiveness of lactic acid as a natural natural ingredient, chiral intermediates in pharmaceuticals, pH regulators, and metal sequestration properties are expected to be key factors for its development in the pharmaceutical industry.

 

In chemical industry and light industry, methyl lactate and ethyl lactate are excellent high boiling point solvents. Due to the high melting point and slow evaporation speed of this kind of substance, it has the property of being uniformly mixed with water and various polar solvents, and can fully dissolve nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetobutyrate, etc. high molecular weight polymer. As a component of mixed solvents, it can improve workability and solubilization. In the leather industry, 40% lactic acid can be used to remove lime in tanned leather, that is, deliming. The quality of leather delimed with lactic acid is better than that delimed with other acids. Therefore, lactic acid deliming is one of the important processes in the process of advanced leather processing. In the cigarette industry, lactic acid can be used to remove impurities in tobacco, improve the taste and improve the grade of tobacco.

 

An important new use of lactic acid is as a synthetic raw material for biodegradable plastics, namely polylactic acid (PLA) biodegradable plastics. Polylactic acid is a polymer of lactic acid itself. Biodegradable polymers cannot be used as general-purpose plastics in terms of cost, strength and durability, but they have been used in the medical field as surgical sutures and various slow-release drug materials, and even as adhesives in organ transplantation and bone grafting. Many people in the industry are highly concerned about this, and the development potential is huge. In recent years, the rapid development at home and abroad is the biological mulch made of lactic acid and starch, which can be used to replace plastic mulch, which can be decomposed by bacteria and absorbed by the soil, which is beneficial to environmental protection. Lactic acid is also used as green feed storage agent, pasture maturation agent, feed additive for ruminants, bath stabilizer in electroplating industry, etc.

 

PLA materials emerged as the dominant application in 2019, accounting for a 28.3% revenue share. This can be attributed to its growing use in packaging, 3D printing filaments, textiles, and agriculture. PLA is an excellent packaging material due to the unique thermal and mechanical properties it offers. Additionally, PLA is biodegradable and made from renewable resources. Its demand is expected to continue increasing due to its inherent properties such as fragrance and odor barrier properties.