World demand for dyes and organic pigments to touch $10.6 billion in 2008

According to a study on dyes & organic pigments, the worldwide demand for organic colourants (dyes and organic pigments) is projected to increase at $10.6 billion in 2008 form 4.9 per cent annually in 2003.

Generally, the dyestuff industry comprises three sub-segments, namely dyes, pigment and intermediates. The dye intermediates are petroleum downstream products which are further processed into finished dyes and pigments. These are important sources in major industries like textiles, plastics, paints, paper and printing inks, leather, packaging sector etc.

Leading players in dyes

Textile dyes have been used since the Bronze Age. They also constitute a prototype 21st-century specialty chemicals market. Three large manufacturers namely DyStar, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Clariant are leaders in the dyes market. The biggest, DyStar, was established in a series of mergers of some of Europe's leading textile dye businesses in the 1990s. Worldwide excess capacity and price burden, fueled by the immediate growth of Asian manufacturers, have shifted most dyestuff chemistries into commodities. Regulatory barriers have nearly stopped the progress of the opening of fundamentally new dyestuffs. Despite this DyStar, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Clariant have grown over the past 10 years with innovative products and new chemistry is being set to endure reactive and dispersant dyes as well as in older dyestuffs such as sulfur dyes.

In 2001 the biggest individual company market shares in colourant production were DyStar (23%), Ciba (14%), Clariant (7%), Yorkshire Group (5%), Japanese (5%) and other traditional groups (3%)., and various dyestuff manufacturers comprise the largest group at 43%.

The only way to growth and to keep Asian bulk dyestuff manufacturers at bay, they say, comes straight out of specialty chemicals strategy to distinguish product offerings through collaborative work with customers and charge a premium price for particular products that gives a perfect solution. This is an effective method, provided that these suppliers produce in China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil as well as in the U.S. and Europe, and that most of the textile producers aim to maintain uniform quality and product performance across worldwide.

Europe is facing the problem of overcapacity of about 30 to 40 per cent in the market from Asia, especially China. But, experts believe, Asian manufacturers manufacture a limited number of low-cost, basic dyestuffs. Most of experts of this field believe that growth lies in innovation and differentiation. Though, of the 180,000-ton-per-year worldwide market for dispersed dyes, specialty dyes consist only about 5,000 tons.

DyStar is a major manufacturer of reactive dyes, which were developed 50 years ago at ICI. DyStar was recently purchased by Platinum Equity, is made up of the dyes business of the original ICI, as well as those of Bayer, BASF and Hoechst. DyStar has developed deep-shade dyes for polyesters. New chemistries are emerging for controlling staining from azo and anthraquinone dyes, including thiophene-based azo dyes. DyStar has also developed benzodifuranone dyes for heavy red shades. It modified azo dyes to keep up their performance when applied with the new detergents. The company also set up secrecy agreements with the leading detergent producers to test new detergent chemistry and do the required dye reformulation proactively. It has added the number of reactive groups in its fluoroaromatic Levafix CA reactive dyes. The company has also been functioning on strengthening the chromophore or color component of the dye for improved lightfastness.

Recently, DyStar has made new red dye for cellulosic fibers, Indanthren Deep Red C-FR Plus, is a new speciality dye for medium to heavy shades of red and Bordeaux, suitable for the coloration of cellulosics on continuous and yarn dyeing units as well as cellulosic/polyamide blends. DyStar Textilfarben GmbH has also introduced the classic cold pad batch dyeing process (cpb). Key developments in cold pad batch technology were started in 1957 and are still ongoing:

-Development of dosing pumps (Hoechst)
- Introduction of sodium silicate as a fixing alkali (Hoechst)
- Development of microwave and oven lab fixation method (Hoechst)
- Mathematical determination of pad liquor stability under practical conditions (Hoechst) --- Optidye CR (DyStar)
- Development of silicate free alkali systems (DyStar)

The dyestuffs industry of China

In the first half of 2005, China gained a growth of 4 per cent in dyes and 11 per cent in organic pigment output. A report stated that China's demand for dyes and pigments is expected to increase at 12 per cent annually by 2008 and output of dyes and pigments will rise by 13 per cent annually by 2008.

According to statistics, in 2004, the production volume of dyeing stuffs and pigments in China reached 598,300 tons and 143,600 tons, an increment of 10.4 per cent and 13.3 per cent over that of the previous year. The total imports and exports of dyeing stuffs and pigments were projected to be 291,200 tons and 138,800 tons; an increase of 10.64 per cent and 16.15 per cent over the same time the previous year. Hence, China has developed to be a large manufacturer, consumer and dealer of dyeing materials, pigments and dyeing auxiliary.