Cyclohexane-Based Eco-Friendly Plasticizers (DINCH/DEHCH): Production Capacity Landscape, Technical Routes, and Market

As restrictions on phthalate plasticizers in high-compliance applications such as food contact materials, medical products, and children’s products become increasingly stringent, environmentally friendly plasticizers represented by diisononyl cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) and di(2-ethylhexyl) cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DEHCH) are emerging as a core direction for replacing traditional products. This article systematically analyzes the industry’s current status and development logic from two dimensions: production capacity, output, and consumption, and core technology routes.

1. Capacity, Output, and Consumption: Import Substitution Accelerates, Domestic Scale Rapidly Expands

1. Global Production Capacity Landscape: BASF Leads, While Domestic Competitors Accelerate Their Catch-Up

The global cyclohexane-based plasticizers market has long been dominated by international giants such as BASF. Its Hexamoll® DINCH series, leveraging first-mover advantages and certification barriers, holds a major share of the high-end market. In 2024, global total production capacity was approximately 400,000 tons, with BASF accounting for over 60% of capacity, mainly supplying markets in Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

In the domestic market, with breakthroughs in hydrogenation process technology, domestic DINCH/DEHCH production capacity has entered a period of rapid release.

In 2024, the domestic total capacity is expected to be around 120,000 to 150,000 tons per year, primarily concentrated in chemical industry hubs such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong. Leading companies like Wanhua Chemical, Zhengdan Chemical, and Ningbo Jinao have established hydrogenation facilities with a capacity of tens of thousands of tons, and some companies have achieved mass production of food-grade and medical-grade products.

Under construction/planned capacity is approximately 100,000 tons per year. Domestic total capacity is expected to exceed 250,000 tons per year by 2026, and import dependence will decline from the current 60% to below 40%.

2. Production and Consumption: Demand growth exceeds 20%, and the supply-demand gap remains.

Production: In 2024, domestic DINCH/DEHCH output was approximately 80,000–100,000 tons, up 25% year-on-year. However, due to limitations in catalyst technology and the operational stability of hydrogenation units, the actual operating rate was only about 65%–70%, with some units still in trial production.

Consumption volume: In 2024, total domestic market consumption was approximately 150,000 tons, of which food-contact materials accounted for 35%, medical supplies 25%, children’s toys 20%, and high-end automotive interiors 15%, with the remainder used in fields such as electrical and electronic applications. With the environmental upgrading of domestic PVC products, consumption is expected to exceed 250,000 tons by 2026, with an average annual growth rate of over 20%.

Market Structure: High-end certifications still rely on imports, while mid-to-low-end domestic replacements are.

Medical-grade and food-contact-grade DINCH products, which must comply with authoritative certifications such as FDA and EU 10/2011, are still predominantly supplied by imported BASF products, accounting for more than 70% of the high-end market share.

The general-purpose DINCH/DEHCH products have quickly replaced imports in China due to cost advantages, achieving a market share of over 50% in areas such as automotive interiors and electronic cables, with prices 15%-20% lower than imported products.

II. Core Technical Route: Benzene Ring Hydrogenation Is Mainstream, with Process Differences Determining Cost and Quality

The core of cyclohexane-based plasticizer production is the selective hydrogenation of the benzene ring to convert phthalate plasticizers into environmentally friendly products. Depending on the raw materials and process routes, it can be divided into two main mainstream routes:

1. Direct hydrogenation route for phthalate plasticizers (mainstream process, widely adopted by domestic enterprises)

(1) Reaction Principle

Using industrially mass-produced diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP/DEHP) as raw materials, the benzene ring is completely hydrogenated under hydrogen in the presence of a supported noble metal catalyst (such as Ru or Pt/Al₂O₃) to produce the corresponding cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylates:

DINP + H₂ → Diisononyl cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH)

DOP + H₂ → Diisooctyl cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DEHCH)

(2) Key Process Points and Workflow

Core equipment: continuous fixed-bed hydrogenation reactor, hydrogen circulation system, catalyst regeneration unit, product refining unit

Process conditions: Reaction temperature 150-250°C, hydrogen pressure 3.0-8.0 MPa. It is necessary to control the reaction conditions to avoid side reactions such as ester bond cleavage and isomerization.

Advantages: stable raw material supply (leveraging existing ortho-phthalate plasticizer production capacity), no need to add new esterification units, a short process route, and low investment cost, making it suitable for the transformation and upgrading of traditional plasticizer enterprises.

Challenge: It is difficult to control catalyst activity and selectivity, and complete hydrogenation of the benzene ring must be achieved (residual benzene ring content must be below 100 ppm); product purification is difficult, and the separation cost of high-purity products is relatively high.

2. Direct Esterification Route of Cyclohexanedicarboxylic Acid (adopted by BASF and other international companies)

(1) Reaction Principle

Using cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (CHDA) or its anhydride as the raw material, DINCH/DEHCH is directly synthesized by esterification with isononyl alcohol or isooctyl alcohol in the presence of a catalyst.

Cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid + isononyl alcohol → DINCH + H₂O

Cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid + Isooctanol → DEHCH + H₂O

(2) Process Characteristics

Advantages: High product purity (up to over 99.5%), fewer side reactions, no risk of residual benzene rings, and easy compliance with high-end certification requirements for medical, food-contact, and other applications; alcohol feedstocks can be flexibly adjusted to produce different product grades.

Challenge: The raw material supply of cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid is constrained, with insufficient domestic production capacity and reliance on imports; the esterification reaction is energy-intensive, the equipment investment is large, and the overall cost is higher than that of the hydrogenation route.

3. Comparison of Technical Routes and Cost Differences

III. Directions for Technological Iteration and Trends in Industrial Development

1. Breakthrough in Catalyst Technology: Domestic Production of Low-Cost, High-Selectivity Catalysts

The core bottleneck in current hydrogenation processes lies in the catalyst. Domestic companies are accelerating the development of non-precious metal catalysts and highly dispersed supported catalysts to reduce catalyst costs, while improving the selectivity of benzene ring hydrogenation, minimizing side reactions, and lowering product purification costs.

2. Process Optimization: Upgrading Continuous, Low-Energy Hydrogenation Units

Traditional batch hydrogenation processes suffer from high energy consumption and poor product stability. Leading companies are advancing the construction of continuous fixed-bed hydrogenation units. By optimizing reaction conditions and adopting efficient hydrogen recycling systems, they have reduced energy consumption per unit of product by 15%–20% while improving batch-to-batch product consistency.

3. High-End Certification and Application Expansion: Extending from General Grade to Medical Grade and Food Grade

As domestic companies’ hydrogenation processes mature, product purity and stability continue to improve. Some companies have already begun applying for certifications such as FDA and EU 10/2011, gradually expanding into high value-added fields such as medical infusion tubes and food packaging, and breaking the monopoly of imported products in the high-end market.

4. Cost Competition: The Price Advantage of Domestic Products Continues to Expand

With the large-scale release of production capacity and process optimization, the cost of domestic DINCH/DEHCH is expected to further decrease, with the estimated cost per ton dropping to 10,000-11,000 yuan by 2026, which is more than 30% lower than imported products. This is likely to accelerate the replacement of general-purpose phthalate plasticizers and imported cyclohexane products.

The domestic substitution of cyclohexane-based environmentally friendly plasticizers is a microcosm of the green upgrading of China’s plastic additives industry. At present, the direct hydrogenation route of phthalates, thanks to its cost and feedstock advantages, has become the mainstream choice for domestic companies, with capacity and output expanding rapidly and the supply-demand gap gradually narrowing. In the future, with breakthroughs in catalyst technology and the implementation of high-end certifications, domestically produced DINCH/DEHCH will extend from the general-purpose segment to the high-end market. Not only will they meet the demand for environmentally upgraded PVC products in China, but they are also expected to compete in the global market by leveraging their cost advantages, driving China’s plastic additives industry to move from “scale expansion” to “dual upgrades in technology and quality.”