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

United States production.

Prior to 1914 United States production of phenol averaged about a million pounds a year and was entirely the natural product obtained from distillates of coal tar. Increased demand during the World War was met by several synthetic phenol processes, which utilized in part the vast quantities of benzol available. Our output of phenol reached 64 million pounds in 1917 and 107 million pounds in 1918. When the armistice was signed stocks on hand in the United States totaled between 35 million and 40 million pounds, estimated at three times the annual consumption at that time for nonmilitary purposes. As a result the price dropped from about 45 cents to 6 cents a pound, and the synthetic plants were closed.

The limited quantities of phenol available to synthetic resin makers prior to and during the World War caused much concern to that industry and led to research work for substitutes, work resulting in the development of many new and modified types of resins in which tar acids other than phenol were used. But notwithstanding the use of these other tar acids the increased demand for synthetic resins used up the accumulated stocks of phenol sooner than was expected.

Of the phenol produced in the United States from 1919 through 1923 a large part was natural phenol but the rapid increase in demand and the improvement of processes for synthetic phenol had by 1923 resulted in four companies beginning production of the synthetic article. The rapid increase in output, from about 3 million pounds in 1923 to about 15 million pounds in 1925, was almost entirely in synthetic phenol. Since then a large part of the domestic production has continued to be synthetic, although the production of natural phenol since 1935 has been about four times that of 1929.

Adequate quantities of coal tar are usually available to produce sufficient natural phenol to meet a substantial part of our requirements, if it were all recovered, but the quantity actually produced is determined in part by the demand for other coal-tar products, and in part by the value of the tar as fuel. More than 50 percent of the tar produced has been burned as fuel, principally at the coke ovens or nearby steel mills.

The domestic production and sales of phenol, natural and synthetic combined, are shown in table [59].

Table 59.—Phenol: United States production and sales, in specified years, 1918-37

Census year	Production	Sales			Ratio of sales to total production
	Quantity	Quantity	Value	Unit value
	1,000 pounds	1,000 pounds	1,000 dollars		Percent
1918	106,794	106,794	37,270	$0.35
1919	1,544	1,544	156	.10
1923	3,311	2,180	590	.27	66
1925	14,734	8,524	1,771	.21	58
1926	8,691	5,480	988	.18	63
1927	8,041	4,595	684	.15	57
1928	10,227	7,746	912	.12	76
1929	24,178	19,939	2,248	.11	83
1930	21,147	17,715	1,976	.11	84
1931	17,981	14,002	1,446	.10	78
1932	13,965	12,181	1,269	.10	87
1933	33,220	27,923	2,881	.10	84
1934	44,935	36,241	3,887	.11	81
1935	43,419	34,575	3,431	.10	80
1936	48,724	40,942	4,235	.10	84
1937	65,690	57,176	6,153	.11	87

Source: Compiled from annual reports of the Tariff Commission on dyes and other synthetic organic chemicals in the United States.

Grades produced for resins.—Increased production of phenol in recent years is largely due to the demand from makers of synthetic resins. A number of grades are regularly produced for this purpose, though it is believed that the technical grade is the principal one used in resins. The several grades are as follows:

(1) USP.—Either natural or synthetic. This grade contains not less than 98 percent phenol.

(2) Technical.—Various grades containing from 80 to 95 percent phenol, of which the two most important are 82-84 percent and 90-92 percent.

(3) Mixtures.—Containing from 30 percent to 80 percent phenol and the remainder of the isomeric cresols.

Producers.—Natural phenol is obtained in the distillation of coal tar and to a smaller extent in the purification of ammonia liquors in coke and gas plants. In 1937 there were four producers of natural phenol with plants located at Philadelphia, Pa., Follansbee, W. Va., Indianapolis, Ind., and Pittsburgh, Pa. All these are tar distillers recovering creosote oil, pitch, cresylic acid, naphthalene, and other crudes from coal tar.

Synthetic phenol is made from benzene, either by sulfonation followed by alkaline fusion, or by chlorination and subsequent heating under pressure with caustic soda. It is produced in large quantities by two firms, one at Midland, Mich., and the other at St. Louis, Mo. A third producer is building a plant at North Tonawanda, N. Y., using a process recently developed in Germany. Operation of this unit will probably start late in 1938.

World production.

Natural phenol is recovered in practically all European countries and in Japan. Germany and the United Kingdom are the principal producers and have also been the leading exporters. Synthetic phenol was made in Germany as early as 1900, and during the World War. Plants for synthetic phenol recently installed are now in operation in Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, and Italy.

Table [60] shows the average annual world production of phenol in recent years by countries. Half of the total was produced in the United States.

Table 60.—Phenol: Estimated average annual production, by countries, 1933-35

Produced in—	Estimated annual production
	1,000 pounds
UNITED STATES	41,000
United Kingdom	18,000
Germany	10,000
Poland	3,000
Japan	3,000
Czechoslovakia	1,000
Belgium	2,000
France	2,000
Italy	1,500
Spain	700
Total	82,200

Source: Consular reports.

In the United Kingdom, where tar distillation is a well developed and highly organized industry, large quantities of gas-works tar, rich in phenol and other tar acids, are available. Prior to the World War the United Kingdom was the principal source of phenol, and of the other products of tar distillation. During the war several synthetic processes of commercial importance were developed, but they were discontinued after its close. A new synthetic unit has recently been installed in England and is now in operation. Increasing consumption of phenol in synthetic resins during the last decade, particularly in the last several years, has changed the United Kingdom from an exporter to an importer of phenol. Estimated consumption of phenol in the United Kingdom is given as 20 million pounds annually—principally in synthetic resins, and in lesser quantities in dyes, intermediates, antiseptics, and disinfectants.

In Germany the phenol recovered in 1936 amounted to about 20 million pounds, and recently three commercial units have been installed for the production of synthetic phenol, one with a reported daily output of 11,000 pounds.

Natural phenol is also recovered in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, and Spain. Synthetic phenol has recently been produced for the first time in Belgium and Italy. The quantities normally produced in these countries are small and are supplemented by imports from Great Britain and Germany.

The production of phenol in Japan has increased rapidly and has been sufficient since 1930 to meet domestic requirements. The estimated output increased from 300,000 pounds in 1927 to more than 3 million pounds annually in recent years. The Miike Dyestuffs Works is reported to be producing synthetic phenol.