Plasticisers
Oily esters that make PVC soft and flexible for cables, flooring, film and medical tubing; a 9-10 Mt market moving away from older phthalates.
Specialty chemicals · Performance additives · No. 77
- Product family
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 9-10 Mt a year (2024, indicative: widely cited industry estimates; no public total retrieved)
- 2.5 t CO₂e per t
- HS 291732
The softness of a cable sheath or vinyl floor comes from oily esters that can make up half the plastic.
Chart: Illustration: Plasticisers
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
An acid such as phthalic anhydride from o-xylene is reacted with an alcohol; one tonne of DOP needs about 0.38 t of anhydride and 0.67 t of 2-EH.
Three things to know
- A plasticiser is about two-thirds alcohol by weight, so 2-ethylhexanol makes up about 55-65% of the cost.
- EU rules have limited four low phthalates such as DEHP to 0.1% in articles, pushing makers towards DOTP and DINCH.
- In August 2026 India put anti-dumping duties of $40.08/t on Chinese and $140.17/t on Korean phthalic anhydride.
The journey
- 1 Aromatics, olefinsXylenes and propylene from oil refining
- 2 Acid and alcoholPhthalic anhydride or PTA, plus 2-ethylhexanol
- 3 EsterificationReacted at about 200-230 C with catalyst
- 4 Clear liquidStripped, filtered, shipped in tanks
- 5 Flexible PVCCables, flooring, film and medical tubing