Surfactants: Feedstocks
Palm oil or petroleum: the choice behind your shampoo
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.Every surfactant combines a hydrophobe and a head group. Hydrophobes come from kerosene and benzene (LAB), ethylene (synthetic alcohols) or lauric oils (palm kernel, coconut). Heads use SO3 from sulphur, ethylene oxide, caustic soda and amines. Feedstock is 60-80% of cost, so the relative price of crude oil and lauric oils decides which route wins, and many formulators switch between them.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Crude oil | about 0.74 t per t LAS acid (stoichiometric) | hydrophobe for LAS | about 70-80% of LAS cost (indicative) | lab tile |
| PO Palm oil | about 0.55-0.65 t fatty alcohol per t SLES active (indicative) | C12-C14 hydrophobe | about 50-60% of SLES cost (indicative) | indicative |
| Cnt Coconut oil | alternative lauric source to palm kernel | C12-C14 hydrophobe, CAPB | swing feed (indicative) | coconut tile |
| Gas Natural gas | about 0.6 t per t of C12 7EO ethoxylate; about 0.15-0.3 t per t SLES (stoichiometric) | non-ionic head; ether link in SLES | about 30-50% of ethoxylate cost (indicative) | ethylene_oxide tile; stoichiometry |
| S Sulfur | about 0.1 t sulphur per t LAS acid (stoichiometric) | sulphonation and sulphation | small | stoichiometry |
| NaCl Salt | about 0.12 t NaOH per t LAS neutralised (stoichiometric) | neutralisation | small | stoichiometry |
Who is low-cost, and why
Integrated producers with captive LAB or EO (Reliance, Middle East, Dow, Sasol) are lowest cost on petro routes; South-East Asian oleochemical groups (Wilmar, KLK, Musim Mas, indicative) on lauric routes. Indian merchant producers such as Galaxy buy fatty alcohols and earn a processing margin of about Rs 17,500-21,700 per t EBITDA (FY25-FY26).
Raw materials on the commodity table
Oil Crude oilPO Palm oilCnt Coconut oilWhat it is made into
| Product | Note |
|---|---|
| LAB Linear alkylbenzene | upstream: about 98% of LAB becomes LAS |
| EO Ethylene oxide | upstream: about 12% of EO goes to ethoxylates |
| FAl Fatty alcohols | upstream: main oleochemical hydrophobe |
| FA Fatty acids | upstream: CAPB, soaps, esterquats |
| Amn Specialty amines and ethanolamines | upstream: amphoterics and cationics |
| H2SO4 Sulphuric acid | upstream: SO3 for sulphonation |