Furfural and furanics (FDCA)

Furfural from corncobs and bagasse, and newer sugar-based furanics such as FDCA for PEF bottles; an old niche chemical and a slow-arriving platform.

Bio-based chemicals · Bio-based polymers & platforms · No. 116

• Product family
• Feedstock: Crops and biomass
• furfural about 600-700 kt a year (indicative); China about 450 kt and furfuryl alcohol about 320 kt (2023, indicative); FDCA 5 kt/yr of first commercial capacity
• HS 293212

Leftover corncobs are cooked into a chemical that binds the sand moulds used to cast engine blocks.

Chart: Illustration: Furfural and furanics (FDCA)

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Corncobs, bagasse or rice husks are cooked with acid and steam, turning their sugars into furfural at only about half the theoretical yield.

Three things to know

1. Quaker Oats first made furfural commercially from oat hulls in the 1920s.
2. In September 2026 furfural cost $1,346 a tonne in Japan but $2,501 in Germany.
3. Avantium's FDCA plant was finished in October 2024 but weld defects delayed its first output until 28 September 2026.

The journey

1. 1 Farm residues8-12 t of corncobs per tonne
2. 2 Acid cookingAcid and steam turn pentosans into furfural
3. 3 Steam distillationRoughly 20-30 t of steam per tonne
4. 4 DerivativesFurfuryl alcohol, foundry resins, THF, furan
5. 5 New furanicsFructose to FDCA, then PEF bottles

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