Organic pigments
Organic pigments give strong, durable colour to inks, paints and plastics; a 400 kt, roughly $5-7 billion niche where China dominates and India's Sudarshan is now a global top two.
Specialty chemicals · Coatings, adhesives & colourants · No. 85
- Product family
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 400 kt a year (2025)
- 8.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 320417
Bright blues and reds in car paint and packaging inks come from insoluble carbon pigments, some worth RMB 550,000 a tonne.
Chart: Illustration: Organic pigments
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Aromatic intermediates such as aniline and phthalic anhydride are built into azo or phthalocyanine molecules, then milled to particles of about 50-500 nm.
Three things to know
- Paints and coatings take about 45% of organic pigments, and printing inks another 25%.
- Phthalocyanine blue is made by heating phthalic anhydride, urea and a copper salt to about 200 C; copper is about 11% of it.
- India's Sudarshan bought Germany's Heubach and lifted its world share to about 15% from 3.5%, but integration has been painful.
The journey
- 1 AromaticsBenzene, toluene, xylene and naphthalene derivatives
- 2 Crude pigmentAzo coupling, or phthalic anhydride with copper
- 3 ConditioningMilled and treated to set particle size
- 4 DispersionMixed into paints, inks and plastics
- 5 Coloured goodsCar paint, packaging inks, toys, masterbatch