Reactive dyes, also known as reactive dyes, are a new type of water-soluble dyes that appeared in the 1950s. Reactive dye molecules contain active groups that can react with the hydroxyl group in cellulose and the amino group in protein fiber, and form covalent bonds with fiber during dyeing to generate "dye-fiber" compounds, which have the characteristics of bright color, good dyeing property, simple dyeing method, high dyeing fastness, complete chromatography and low cost. Mainly used in cotton, hemp, viscose, silk, wool and other fibers and their blended fabrics dyeing and printing.

From 2018 to 2020, China's reactive dye industry has a significant decline in output due to factors such as rising raw material prices and environmental protection policies. According to the data released by the research report network, as of 2020, China's reactive dye production is 211,000 tons, down 4.52% year-on-year, accounting for 27.4% of China's total dye production

Types of reactive dyes:

Bifunctional dyes: Dyes that contain two groups are called bifunctional dyes, and these reactive dyes are designed in such a way that they can react with the fibers in more than one way.

Vinyl sulfone dyes (VS) : Vinyl sulfone dyes have moderate activity, dyeing temperature is generally 600℃, pH value is 11.5, using a mixture of soda ash and caustic soda for dyeing, these dyes show excellent color fixing properties under appropriate alkaline conditions.

Monochlorotriazine dyes (MCT) : Usually these dyes are less reactive than vinyl sulfone dyes, and the reaction can be performed under more energetic reaction conditions, usually 800 degrees Celsius, with a pH of 10.5, and is essential for proper fixation of cellulose fibers, as shown in the figure below for a typical monochlorotriazine dye.

Industrial chain analysis

1. Industrial chain

As a part of the petrochemical industry, reactive dyes are mainly raw materials such as aniline, caustic soda, chlorosulfonic acid and ethylene oxide in the upstream industry chain. Downstream is mainly used in textile printing and dyeing fields.

2. Downstream analysis

Printing and dyeing industry is the most important application field of reactive dyes. With the continuous development of printing and dyeing industry in China, it has brought a huge demand market for reactive dyes industry in China and promoted the development of reactive dyes industry in China. According to the data, in 2021, the revenue of enterprises above designated size in China's printing and dyeing industry was 294.987 billion yuan, an increase of 16.1%. As of the first half of 2022, the revenue of enterprises above designated size in China's printing and dyeing industry was 150.66 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1%.

Third, industry status

1. Overall structure

Reactive dyes as one of the main components of the dye industry, with the continuous development of China's dye industry in recent years, the industry has also developed rapidly. According to data, in China's dye industry market in 2021, reactive dyes accounted for 30.51%, second only to disperse dyes, ranking second.

2. Output

Because reactive dyes are energy-intensive and highly polluting industries, in recent years, under the influence of national environmental policy restrictions and deepening supply-side structural reform and other factors, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises with backward production capacity and serious pollution have been gradually eliminated, making the overall production of reactive dyes in China fluctuate and decline. According to data, China's reactive dye production in 2021 is 261,000 tons, an increase of 23.7%.

3. Import and export trade

From the perspective of industry import and export trade, in recent years, affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and other factors, Southeast Asia, as the main producing area of reactive dyes, has experienced a sharp decline in output, unable to meet export demand, resulting in a large number of orders returning to our market, driving the continuous growth of China's reactive dyes export volume, and driving the growth of industry trade balance. According to the data, in 2022, China's reactive dye imports were 0.9600 tons, down 39.2% year-on-year; Imports amounted to US $106 million, down 27.9% year on year; Exports were 39,200 tons, down 10.5% year on year; Exports amounted to $233 million, down 9 percent year-on-year.

From the perspective of export distribution, the top three regions in China's reactive dye exports in 2022 are South Korea, Bangladesh and Pakistan, accounting for 24%, 15.2% and 13.3%, respectively.

Reactive and disperse dyes production process and technical differences:

1) The characteristics of reactive dyes soluble in water and disperse dyes insoluble in water cause the difference in the production process of the two types of dyes: in the chemical reaction process of the production of dyes, the main unit reactions of the synthesis process of reactive dyes and disperse dyes involve diazo reaction and coupling reaction, but usually reactive dyes have more condensation reaction steps than disperse dyes. In addition, reactive dyes are soluble in water, so the unit reaction in the synthesis process of reactive dyes is completed in water; Disperse dyes are insoluble in water, so most of the unit reactions in the synthesis process are completed in strong acids, so a large amount of acid containing wastewater will be produced. In the post-treatment process, the raw pulp produced by chemical reaction of reactive dyes can be directly sprayed dry to form dye products; After the chemical reaction of disperse dye is completed, the filter cake is formed. Since it is insoluble in water, the filter cake needs to be added with additives and sanded to ground the filter cake into a micron substance before it can be sprayed dry to form the dye product.

2) The technical focus of reactive dyes is to control the reaction environment, and the technical focus of disperse dyes is to reduce wastewater discharge: The use of reactive dyes to color depends on the reactive group in the reactive dye and fabric molecules to react, and the reactive group is easy to hydrolysis (reaction with water), the reactive group hydrolysis after the dye will lose the function of dyeing, but by controlling the pH value, temperature and other reaction conditions, can prevent the reactive group hydrolysis in the production process. Therefore, the difficulty in the production of reactive dyes is to find the optimal reaction conditions for different types of dyes, and to achieve the reaction conditions in actual production, the conditions need to be searched through continuous research and development and experiments, and a lot of practice in actual production.

Disperse dyes are insoluble in water, so the corresponding chemical reaction needs to be completed in concentrated sulfuric acid, so the production process of disperse dyes will produce a lot of acid containing wastewater. In addition, disperse dyes need to add additives in the post-treatment, which will dissolve in water and form waste water discharge when the dye is colored. Therefore, disperse dyes will produce a lot of wastewater in the production process and dyeing process, and the technical difficulty in the production and use of disperse dyes is to reduce wastewater discharge.

(2) The disperse dye market is larger and more concentrated, and the gross profit margin is generally higher than that of reactive dyes: On the whole, with the promulgation and revision of laws and regulations on energy conservation and environmental protection such as the Environmental Protection Law, the energy conservation and environmental protection barriers of China's dye industry have risen significantly, small and medium-sized enterprises have gradually withdrawn from competition, and the dye industry has formed Zhejiang Longsheng, Runtuo Shares, Jinji shares, Flyanthene, Jihua Group, Anoqi, issuers and other leading or subdivided leaders, with a high concentration. The competitive landscape is basically stable. In addition to Zhejiang Yide New Materials Co., LTD., the above enterprises have completed the listing of capital.

Among them, according to the statistics of the China Dye Industry Association, the national dye production in 2020 is 770,000 tons, of which the disperse dye production is 370,000 tons, the reactive dye production is 210,000 tons, and the disperse dye market is larger than the reactive dye. At present, there are 7 listed companies in dye production, namely Zhejiang Longsheng, Runtu Shares, Jinji Shares, Anqi, Flexanthite, Jihua Group and Yabang shares. In addition to the main reactive dye products of Jinji Shares, other listed companies all use disperse dyes as their main products.

In the field of disperse dyes, Zhejiang Longsheng and Runtu shares for disperse dyes leading enterprises, the annual report disclosed that Zhejiang Longsheng and Runtu shares in 2020 total production of 363,400 tons, combined with the statistical data of China Dye Industry Association calculated that the total dye production in 2020 accounted for 47% of China's dye production, visible disperse dyes market concentration is high; In the field of reactive dyes, according to the disclosure of Golden Rooster shares prospectus, Golden Rooster shares are the second largest reactive dye manufacturers, reactive dyes market share of about 17%. It can be seen that the concentration of disperse dyes is higher than that of reactive dyes.

Because disperse dyes market concentration is higher than reactive dyes, disperse dyes manufacturers have higher bargaining power, so the average price and gross profit rate of disperse dyes in China are relatively higher than reactive dyes.

(3) Reactive and disperse dyes are irreplaceable in the downstream use: fabrics are mainly divided into natural fibers and chemical fibers, natural fibers include cotton, hemp, natural leather, etc., chemical fibers include polyester, acrylic, artificial leather, etc. Due to the different dyeing mechanism, reactive and direct dyes are used for natural fiber dyeing, dispersive and cationic dyes are used for chemical fiber dyeing, and acid and medium dyes are used for leather dyeing. Reactive, direct dyes soluble in water, can be used for natural fiber dyeing, reactive dyes through the reactive group in the dye and the amino and hydroxyl groups in the fiber chemical reaction color, so the washing fastness is good. Direct dyes are colored by physical reaction, so the washing fastness is not as good as reactive dyes, and they are mostly used for dyeing disposable items. In summary, reactive dyes have strong irreplaceability when dyeing natural fibers.

Development trend

In recent years, affected by national environmental protection policies and other factors, China's reactive dye production has declined, but with backward production capacity and small and medium-sized enterprises with serious pollution are gradually eliminated by the market, China's reactive dye quality will be greatly improved, and production will gradually pick up. In addition, reactive dyes have the advantages of strong applicability, wide chromatography, convenient production, low cost, friction resistance, etc., and are widely used in various fiber products and textiles. At the same time, reactive dyes can also replace chrome-mediated dyes and acid dyes, and are widely used in wool dyeing. With the continuous expansion of application areas, the reactive dyes market space is expected to further grow.

Article source: CICC Qixin International Consulting, Huajing Industrial Research Institute, View research world, Jingyan Chemical Industry