Furfural and furanics (FDCA): Overview
The foundry binder and refinery solvent you never heard of
What this tab covers What the chemical is, how big its market is, what it is used for (with shares, volumes, why it wins and what could replace it), and its chain from raw material to end user. Ends with three things to remember.Furfural is made by cooking farm residues rich in pentose sugars, mainly corncobs, bagasse and rice husks, with acid and steam. It goes mostly into furfuryl alcohol for foundry sand resins, and into refinery solvents. China produced about 450 kt in 2023 (industry blog, indicative), most of the world's supply; the market is worth about $0.7-0.9 billion (IMARC, 2025). The newer furanics, HMF and FDCA, are made from glucose and fructose; FDCA plus MEG gives PEF, a bio-based bottle polyester. Avantium's 5 kt/yr FDCA plant in the Netherlands made its first batch only in September 2026, years late.
Volume 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 Market value furfural $713.5 million (IMARC pricing report) to $860.8 million (IMARC market page) in 2025 Growth about 5.2-5.3% a year to $1.13-1.39 billion by 2034 (IMARC) IMARC Furfural Market and Pricing Report 2025-2026; Teenablog China furfural summary (2023 output, indicative); AvantiumKey uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Furfuryl alcohol and furan resins (foundry sand binders, corrosion-resistant resins) | 60% | about 390 ktbasis | Furan no-bake resins bind sand moulds for metal casting with good strength and low gas; IMARC names furfuryl alcohol as the largest application. China's 320 kt of furfuryl alcohol in 2023 (indicative) matches this. IMARC 2025 (largest application); share indicative | Phenolic and alkyd binders Inorganic binders |
| Refinery solvent (lube oil extraction) | 20% | about 130 ktbasis | Furfural selectively extracts aromatics from lube base oils; IMARC names petroleum refineries as the largest end-user industry. IMARC 2025; share indicative | NMP Phenol extraction Hydrocracking |
| Agrochemical and pharma intermediates (furan, THF, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, nitrofurans) | 10% | about 65 ktbasis | Furfural is a building block for furan chemistry, pesticides and some drugs. indicative | Petrochemical routes to THF (butanediol) |
| Other (flavours, adhesives, nematicides, new furanics such as FDCA/PEF) | 10% | about 65 ktbasis | Small but strategic: FDCA-based PEF promises a bio-based bottle polyester with better gas barrier than PET. Avantium; indicative | PET Bio-MEG PET |
From raw material to user
- Farm residues Corncobs (IMARC's largest feedstock), bagasse, rice husks and oat hulls; about 8-12 t of corncobs per t of furfural (indicative).
- Acid hydrolysis and dehydration Pentosans are hydrolysed to xylose and dehydrated to furfural with sulphuric acid and steam in batch or continuous digesters; the Chinese batch process is the most common (IMARC).
- Distillation Furfural is stripped with steam, using roughly 20-30 t of steam per t (indicative); the residue is burned for energy.
- Derivatives Hydrogenation gives furfuryl alcohol, then furan resins; other routes give THF and furan.
- New furanics Fructose is dehydrated to HMF or its methoxy form and oxidised to FDCA, which is polymerised with MEG to PEF (Avantium YXY route).
Made from (commodity table)
Mz MaizeSu SugarThree things to know
- China makes most of the world's furfural from corncobs: about 450 kt in 2023 (indicative).
- Furfural prices in Sep 2026 ranged from $1,346/t in Japan to $2,501/t in Germany (IMARC).
- Avantium's 5 kt FDCA plant finished construction in October 2024, hit titanium weld defects, and made its first FDCA only on 28 September 2026 (Avantium).