Benzoic acid, with the chemical formula C₇H₆O₂, is an aromatic acid organic compound and the simplest aromatic acid. It mainly exists in nature in the form of free acid, ester, or its derivatives. Driven by the combined effects of downstream markets such as food and feed, the sales volume of China’s benzoic acid industry has shown an overall upward trend. Especially from 2021 to 2022, affected by the increase in food consumption due to more time spent at home during the pandemic and the strong substitution demand for benzoic acid in the “antibiotic – free” era, the sales volume of benzoic acid in China has achieved rapid growth. According to statistics, the sales volume of benzoic acid in China reached 161,600 tons in 2024, up from 125,200 tons in 2018. Currently, China has become the world’s largest benzoic acid sales market, with the national sales volume of benzoic acid accounting for more than 56% of the global total sales volume.
I. Industry Overview
Benzoic acid is an aromatic acid organic compound and the simplest aromatic acid, with the chemical formula C₇H₆O₂. It was originally obtained from gum benzoin, so it is also called benzoin acid, and has a slight odor of benzaldehyde or benzoin. At around 25ºC at room temperature, its PKa value is 4.2. It is a monoprotic weak acid but has stronger acidity than fatty acids. It has a stable chemical structure and is not easily oxidized. Its melting point is 122.13°C, boiling point is 249.2°C, and relative density (15/4°C) is 1.2659. Its appearance is white scaly crystals. It sublimes above 100°C. It is slightly soluble in cold water and hexane, and soluble in hot water, ethanol, ether, chloroform, benzene, carbon disulfide, and turpentine, etc.
Benzoic acid widely exists in nature in the form of free acid, ester, or its derivatives. Benzoic acid is an important chemical raw material and chemical reaction intermediate, mainly used in the preparation of sodium benzoate preservatives, and in the synthesis of drugs, dyes. It is also used in the production of plasticizers, mordants, bactericides, and spices, etc. The chemical structure of benzoic acid contains a carboxyl group and a benzene ring. It can not only undergo reactions such as neutralization, salt formation, and ester formation, but also meta – substitution reactions on the benzene ring, which enables benzoic acid to derive many derivatives.
The industry chain of the benzoic acid industry includes the raw material supply link, mainly including acetic acid, toluene, benzyl halide, o – xylene, etc. The mid – stream of the industry chain is the benzoic acid production and manufacturing link, that is, it is prepared by methods such as the benzyl halide oxidation method, trichlorotoluene hydrolysis method, and phthalic anhydride decarboxylation method. The downstream of the industry chain is the application field of benzoic acid. At present, benzoic acid is mainly used in foods such as beverages, condiments, candied fruits, and pickled vegetables. At the same time, it can also be used in the production of products in industries such as feed, medicine, dyes, and cosmetics.
II. Industry Status
Benzoic acid is a fine chemical product. Under acidic conditions, it has obvious bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects on a variety of microorganisms, and its downstream application demand is extensive. In recent years, benefiting from the stable support of the downstream market, the demand market for benzoic acid in China has also achieved relatively stable development. On the one hand, benzoic acid has the characteristics of broad – spectrum bacteriostasis, low price, and low harm to the human body, so it has become an important acidic food preservative in China and is widely used in foods such as beverages, condiments, candies, and pickled vegetables. China has a large population base, and at the same time, with the improvement of people’s living standards, the consumption of foods such as beverages and condiments is large, which brings strong support for the development of the benzoic acid industry. Taking the beverage market as an example, China is one of the world’s largest beverage production and consumption countries and occupies a pivotal position in the world’s beverage market. In the past six years, the output of beverages in China has always remained above 16,000 tons, and reached 18,816.9 tons in 2024. This means that the application demand for benzoic acid products in the beverage industry shows a growth trend, continuously providing support for the development of the benzoic acid industry.
On the other hand, benzoic acid can be used to replace antibiotics in the feed field. In July 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued an announcement, deciding to stop the production, import, operation, and use of some medicinal feed additives. Since January 1, 2020, all growth – promoting medicinal feed additive varieties except traditional Chinese medicine have been withdrawn. Since July 1 of the same year, feed production enterprises have stopped producing commercial feeds containing growth – promoting medicinal feed additives (except for traditional Chinese medicine). Since then, China has officially entered the “antibiotic – free” era in feed, bringing a large amount of substitution demand for antibiotic substitutes such as benzoic acid.
Based on the above analysis, driven by the combined effects of downstream markets such as food and feed, the sales volume of China’s benzoic acid industry has shown an overall upward trend. Especially from 2021 to 2022, affected by the increase in food consumption due to more time spent at home during the pandemic and the strong substitution demand for benzoic acid in the “antibiotic – free” era, the sales volume of benzoic acid in China has achieved rapid growth. According to statistics, the sales volume of benzoic acid in China reached 161,600 tons in 2024, up from 125,200 tons in 2018. Currently, China has become the world’s largest benzoic acid sales market, with the national sales volume of benzoic acid accounting for more than 56% of the global total sales volume.
III. Import and Export
China is one of the world’s largest benzoic acid producers. The export scale of the domestic benzoic acid industry has always been larger than the import scale, maintaining a trade surplus situation, and the trade surplus has shown an overall expanding trend. Specifically, since the benzoic acid industry in China has achieved self – sufficiency, its total import volume has been very small in recent years, not exceeding 9,000 tons. However, the total export volume of benzoic acid in China has shown an overall upward trend. Customs data shows that in 2024, the total export volume of benzoic acid in China was about 165,000 tons, a year – on – year increase of 34.04%; the total export value of the industry was about 1.46 billion yuan, a year – on – year increase of 34.69%.
IV. Enterprise Pattern
Benzoic acid is a fine chemical product, with a strict quality control system, complex production process, and high requirements for equipment and technology. At the same time, the benzoic acid industry in China also has relatively high barriers such as capital, talents, and customers. Therefore, the industry entry threshold is relatively high, and there are few new entrants in the market. At present, the concentration degree of China’s benzoic acid industry is high. In 2023, CR2 reached 84.1% and CR5 reached 96.5%, and the market presents an oligopoly pattern.
V. Future Trends
1. Accelerated Green Transformation, Building a Competitive Moat with Technical Barriers
As a high – energy – consuming product in production, under the dual drive of environmental protection policies and market demand, benzoic acid enterprises have increased their investment in green technologies, and the greening process of the industry will continue to accelerate. For example, Wuhan Organic has reduced solvent consumption by 70% and increased the comprehensive utilization rate of waste residue to 95% by developing supercritical fluid extraction technology; Tianjin Dongda Chemical has adopted membrane separation technology to achieve efficient separation of benzoic acid and by – products, reducing wastewater discharge by 60%. In addition, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) imposes carbon tariffs on imported products, forcing enterprises to use renewable energy. In general, green technology will not only reduce the compliance costs of benzoic acid production enterprises but also become the access threshold for enterprises to enter the high – end market. It is expected that by 2025, the market share of enterprises with green certification will exceed 80%.
2. Fission of Application Scenarios, Explosive Growth of High – end Customized Demand
In recent years, the growth rate of traditional application fields of benzoic acid has slowed down, but emerging tracks such as new energy and biomedicine have opened up new growth poles for the benzoic acid industry. For example, in the field of lithium batteries, benzoic acid ester additives can improve the thermal stability of the electrolyte. The market capacity of this 细分 market is expected to exceed 100,000 tons in 2025; at the same time, the demand for ultra – pure benzoic acid (purity ≥ 99.99%) in gene therapy drugs is also increasing sharply. In addition, the rise of the environmental protection plasticizer market, and the compound products of benzoic acid and citric acid are gradually replacing phthalates. The relevant application proportion has reached 18% in 2024. In the future, enterprises with rapid response capabilities will realize “small – batch, multi – variety” flexible production through modular production lines, seizing the opportunity in the customized market.
3. Globalization Reconstructs the Supply Chain, Geopolitical Risks Spur Regional Layout
In the future, changes in the international trade pattern will force enterprises to reconstruct the supply chain system. On the one hand, China’s benzoic acid exports face low – cost competition from countries such as India and Turkey. In 2024, India’s export volume increased by 27% year – on – year, putting price pressure on Chinese products; on the other hand, the intensification of geopolitical risks, enterprises reduce risks through “overseas factory construction + localized operation”. For example, LANXESS Group has built a new factory with an annual output of 50,000 tons in Malaysia, radiating the Southeast Asian market. In addition, digital technology empowers supply chain management. Leading enterprises use blockchain to realize raw material traceability, realizing the whole – process digital monitoring from olive oil residue to benzoic acid, and the delivery cycle can be shortened by 40%. In general, in the future, enterprises with global resource allocation capabilities and emergency response mechanisms will occupy more advantages in the benzoic acid market competition.
Source of the article content: Zhiyan Consulting
