Synthetic resins and their raw materials / A survey of the types and uses of synthetic resins, the organization of the industry, and the trade in resins and raw materials, with particular references to factors essential to tariff consideration. Under the general provisions of section 332, title III, part II, Tariff act of 1930.

by United States Tariff Commission

Competitive conditions.

Phthalic anhydride is the cheapest polybasic organic acid and therefore the most widely used in the production of alkyd resins. The rapid rise in consumption of surface coatings and finishes made from these resins presages greater demand for phthalic anhydride (and glycerin) in the future, particularly if this type of outdoor finish for wood is successful.

The world-wide shortage of naphthalene, with attendant sharp increases in price, raises the question of whether there may not be partial or complete replacement of phthalic anhydride by other polybasic acids in certain types of alkyd resins. The probability of such replacement seems remote unless the use of other polybasic acids, at present much higher priced, so improves the properties of the resins as to give a superior product. Approximately 100 pounds of naphthalene are required to produce 109 pounds of phthalic anhydride. Naphthalene at 3 cents per pound gives phthalic anhydride a raw material cost of 2.75 cents per pound as compared with 1.45 cents per pound when naphthalene was 1.55 cents per pound. In other words, the increase of 1.5 cents per pound in naphthalene, meant an increase of only about 1⅓ cents per pound in the raw material cost of phthalic anhydride, and only approximately ¼ cent per pound in the raw material cost of an alkyd resin surface coating containing about 20-percent phthalic anhydride.