# Dyes

Synthetic dyes colour textiles, leather and paper; a roughly 1.35 Mt industry where China makes over 70% and India most of the rest.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/

Specialty chemicals · Coatings, adhesives & colourants · No. 84

- Product family
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 1.35 Mt a year (2025, derived: China 983 kt at just over 70% of world output)
- 10.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 320411, 320416
 Specialty chemicals · Coatings, adhesives & colourants · Foundation · Matter

Almost every colourful shirt was dyed with chemicals from China or Gujarat, which together make nearly nine-tenths of the world's dyes.

Chart: Illustration: Dyes

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Benzene and naphthalene are nitrated, sulphonated and reduced into intermediates, then coupled into azo dyes; each tonne of H acid leaves about 30 t of phenol-laden wastewater.

##### Three things to know

1. Disperse dyes for polyester are about 40% of the market, because only small, non-ionic molecules can enter that water-shy fibre.
2. Vat, sulphur and direct dyes make up about 12% of the market; indigo alone colours almost all denim.
3. About 75% of India's dye output comes from Gujarat, where effluent rules are a major cost and closure risk.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Aromatics**Benzene, toluene, naphthalene from refineries, coke ovens
2. 2 **Intermediates**Nitrated, sulphonated, reduced into H acid, amines
3. 3 **Dye synthesis**Diazotised and coupled in batch reactors
4. 4 **Dye bath**Dissolved or dispersed at textile mills
5. 5 **Coloured fabric**Polyester, cotton, denim, leather, paper
 Covered in [The chemical industry: what it makes and how it is organisedChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/chem-industry-map/)[Colour and protection: dyes, pigments, paints and coatingsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/dyes-pigments-coatings/)[Soaps, detergents and agrochemicalsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/soaps-detergents-agrochemicals/)[How a classic specialty chemical market works: the synthetic dye industryChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-a-specialty-market-works-dyes/)[Biorefineries and platform chemicalsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/biorefineries-platform-chemicals/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/dyes/links/index.md)