# 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.

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

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
 Bio-based chemicals · Bio-based polymers & platforms · Foundation · Matter

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 residues**8-12 t of corncobs per tonne
2. 2 **Acid cooking**Acid and steam turn pentosans into furfural
3. 3 **Steam distillation**Roughly 20-30 t of steam per tonne
4. 4 **Derivatives**Furfuryl alcohol, foundry resins, THF, furan
5. 5 **New furanics**Fructose to FDCA, then PEF bottles
 Covered in [The chemical industry: what it makes and how it is organisedChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/chem-industry-map/)

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

## Other sections

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