Tom Branna, Editorial Director01.26.23
CESIO is the European association representing producers of surfactants and intermediates. Every four years, the association organizes the CESIO World Surfactant Congress, which provides a unique opportunity for partners and contacts across the surfactants value chain.
The theme for this congress is “Surfactants – High Performance Solutions for a Better World.“ This event represents the perfect opportunity to learn about the latest developments in key areas such as business and market tends; safety and regulatory affairs; and applications. Participants can take part in sessions covering scientific, technical and economic aspects of surfactants and their industrial and consumer applications.
Happi recently caught up with CESIO President Dr. Tony Gough to discuss the market and the merits of attending CESIO 2023.
Happi: How has the world and consumer changed since the last Congress in Munich 2019?
Tony Gough: Starting in 2020, the world has had its unfortunate struggle with covid-19! Lockdowns all over the world had a huge adverse impact on the supply chains, on service providers and the consumer, not to mention the mental stress that has been exerted by all the crisis on young and old people alike across the globe. Now, after three years of pandemic crisis, the world looks different. Many areas of daily life seem to be returning to normal but a significant number have been changed forever!
In our sphere of the surfactants industry, the covid pandemic caused a massive increase in demand for personal cleansing products and sanitizers and in household cleaning products. This, of course resulted in a massive increase in demand from suppliers of surfactants for these product types. Covid has therefore been a boon for these suppliers. Other sectors and other industries weren’t so fortunate, of course. As examples, the lockdowns had huge adverse impact on institutional cleaning in the hotel and restaurant sector and in the travel industry. As another example, certain professional services such as hair salons suffered a decline in business, but retail hair colorant products for home use other salon-type products sold in the retail sector saw a significant increase in sales.
However, retail sales themselves lost some ground in competitiveness compared with the online sales. Our Congress will highlight these trends and examine whether they will be sustainable or will only be a temporarily effect our industry. General current thinking is that consumer habits have been changed by covid and increased frequencies of cleansing and cleaning will therefore be a long-term habit.
Happi: Is the world back on track post-covid? Or should I ask, are we post-covid?
Gough: Things now seem to be on the road to being buoyant again for many business areas and, as mentioned, continue to be relatively good for the surfactant industry as a whole. Products like hand washes and hand sanitizers, for example, have declining sales from their pinnacle during covid lockdown times but are still somewhat above those in pre-covid times, so still a healthy market for these.
However, China still has major covid issues and this is having a lingering adverse effect on the global economy and supply chain of surfactants, and other areas in general.
Covid-19 is broadly viewed as a “once in a lifetime” or “once in a century” pandemic. Let’s hope this is true. In the meantime, the world has some good leanings from covid-19 and on what steps to take and what steps not to take when/if the next pandemic hits!
Happi: Supply chains were stretched to the breaking point during Covid. Have they bounced back in general and what about surfactant supply chains in particular?
Gough: After the global supply chain nightmare of the whole of 2021 especially, supply chains seem to be on a general, but bumpy, road to recovery. There are still shortages in supply of key feedstocks such as ammonia, for example. Although the bulk of world ammonia consumption is for fertilizers, it is also a key feedstock for intermediates used to make key surfactants.
Also, issues with shipping, bulk-container availability, availabilities of feedstocks for surfactants in the far east, availabilities of trucks and drivers in Europe especially, and the general hikes in the fees for transporting goods in all regions of the world also caused problems with surfactant and surfactant feedstock supply chains but the situation with these seems now to be gradually improving.
Happi: How about inflation? It seems to be ebbing. How is pricing for surfactants specifically? Are increases slowing down?
Gough: High increases in inflation caused by global events like the conflict in Ukraine and high energy prices due to reduction in Russian gas and oil supply have also been gripping the world. These affected surfactant and other chemical feedstock prices, of course, but these now seem to be stabilizing in most areas of feedstock, including those used in surfactant production. We are even seeing prices of certain feedstocks starting to come down due to increased competition caused by increased activity by suppliers in India and China, for example. However, all feedstocks prices are considerably higher than they were in pre-covid times.
Happi: What consumer trends are driving the surfactant market? Can you comment on the move away from petroleum-based (or fossil-based) materials toward plant-based surfactants?
Gough: Consumers are being made increasingly aware of the need for the world to move to more sustainable practices in all walks of life and are looking for positive actions that have been taken in sustainability in particular in bringing the goods they buy to market.
There are some surfactants on the market which are 100% naturally derived, and some which are 100% petrochemical-derived (or fossil-derived). But many surfactants on the market are hybrids having a moiety which is naturally derived and moiety which is fossil-derived derived. Many surfactants are thus already said to be naturally derived or plant derived. Today, around 50% of surfactants in Europe already have at least one constituent from a renewable feedstock (plant-derived). The choice of feedstock will also depend upon the type of applications and the properties required. For some, biobased are best suited, but for others, petrochemical-based are more suitable.
However, a number of key global companies making products using fossil-derived surfactants and other fossil-derived ingredients have made pledges that by a certain year, their products will be fossil-free or have reduced fossil-derived content. Routes must therefore be found to make the fossil-derived feedstocks from non-fossil sources of carbon such as plants, biotechnology, chemical recycling of plastics and carbon capture and utilisation. This will be helped by mass balance schemes such as that run by ISCC in the transition of feedstocks from being petrochemical-derived to being fully segregated fossil-free. As yet, there is not a large presence of surfactants which have had their previously fossil-derived moieties substituted by fossil-free moieties but there is growing activity by feedstock suppliers in developing drop-in fossil-free feedstocks which are chemically identical to their fossil-derived counterparts. Therefore, over the coming years more and more suppliers will be launching fossil-free feedstocks and there will be more and more consumer products containing them.
Happi: We read so much about biosurfactants. What impact are these materials having on the traditional surfactant categories?
Gough: Biosurfactants in the sense of surface-active molecules produced by microorganisms have not yet quite reached a level which would make them commercially successful. But we carefully monitor these developments and recognize their improvements, as there is a high industrial interest in these novel ingredients. However, through advances in recent years in biotechnology and manufacturing routes to biosurfactants such as sophorolipids and rhamnolipids, certain companies are gearing up to make these on industrial scale.
So, whilst biosurfactants have limited presence in products in the market at present, we expect to see their presence grow over the coming years with additional new types of biosurfactants also emerging. A final point is that, whilst biosurfactants possess various attractive features, they can be lacking in certain performance attributes compared to synthetic surfactants and are currently not as cost effective (but this latter point will change in the future). They are therefore not drop-in replacements for most key synthetic surfactants and significant formulation work could be needed by companies wishing to use these biosurfactants in their products. However, rewards can be had if companies are able to develop products containing biosurfactants which meet consumer acceptance on performance and cost, of course!
Happi: What trends in the personal care and home care sectors are impacting the surfactant industry?
Gough: As has been mentioned in a previous question, product developers, manufacturers and consumers are all seeking more and more sustainability aspects associated with personal care and home care products. This goes for both the contents and the packaging that is used for the products. This had let to the recent emergence of more solid-format or concentrated-format types of products on the market which use no water, or reduced water content in their manufacturing than conventional products and also use less packaging. Product developers and manufacturers of these more sustainable product types therefore require surfactants (and other ingredients) which are capable of being used in these formats. Examples are solid shampoos which can be in powder form or bar form, concentrated shampoos which contain less water than conventional shampoos, and various novel solid or concentrated formats for laundry detergents, to name a few.
Another trend in some quarters with developers and manufacturers of conventional product types, or also, indeed, more sustainable product format types is to seek surfactants which have some kind of eco-organisation certification. Examples of this are Ecocert COSMOS and Ecocert Detergent, Natrue, etc. There are currently relatively few surfactant types which meet the criteria of these agencies but the list is expected to grow as more surfactants emerge over the coming years which are synthetic surfactants that are 100% naturally derived or are biosurfactants.
Happi: Why should readers attend the World Surfactant Congress? Can you share some of the highlights of the event?
Gough: The Congress represents the perfect opportunity to learn about the latest developments in key areas such as business and market trends, safety and regulatory affairs and technical and applications. Participants can take part in sessions covering scientific, technical and economic aspects of surfactants and their industrial and consumer applications. Posters will present latest developments in the field of research and technical applications. The CESIO Congress, a truly international event, is a must for those who wish to learn about challenges and opportunities for the surfactants industry.
This showcase event for the surfactants industry which will be held in the beautiful city of Rome offers a compelling lecture and poster program and will also be a unique occasion for professional networking and socializing in a warmly welcoming setting!
The theme for this congress is “Surfactants – High Performance Solutions for a Better World.“ This event represents the perfect opportunity to learn about the latest developments in key areas such as business and market tends; safety and regulatory affairs; and applications. Participants can take part in sessions covering scientific, technical and economic aspects of surfactants and their industrial and consumer applications.
Happi recently caught up with CESIO President Dr. Tony Gough to discuss the market and the merits of attending CESIO 2023.
Happi: How has the world and consumer changed since the last Congress in Munich 2019?
Tony Gough: Starting in 2020, the world has had its unfortunate struggle with covid-19! Lockdowns all over the world had a huge adverse impact on the supply chains, on service providers and the consumer, not to mention the mental stress that has been exerted by all the crisis on young and old people alike across the globe. Now, after three years of pandemic crisis, the world looks different. Many areas of daily life seem to be returning to normal but a significant number have been changed forever!
In our sphere of the surfactants industry, the covid pandemic caused a massive increase in demand for personal cleansing products and sanitizers and in household cleaning products. This, of course resulted in a massive increase in demand from suppliers of surfactants for these product types. Covid has therefore been a boon for these suppliers. Other sectors and other industries weren’t so fortunate, of course. As examples, the lockdowns had huge adverse impact on institutional cleaning in the hotel and restaurant sector and in the travel industry. As another example, certain professional services such as hair salons suffered a decline in business, but retail hair colorant products for home use other salon-type products sold in the retail sector saw a significant increase in sales.
However, retail sales themselves lost some ground in competitiveness compared with the online sales. Our Congress will highlight these trends and examine whether they will be sustainable or will only be a temporarily effect our industry. General current thinking is that consumer habits have been changed by covid and increased frequencies of cleansing and cleaning will therefore be a long-term habit.
Happi: Is the world back on track post-covid? Or should I ask, are we post-covid?
Gough: Things now seem to be on the road to being buoyant again for many business areas and, as mentioned, continue to be relatively good for the surfactant industry as a whole. Products like hand washes and hand sanitizers, for example, have declining sales from their pinnacle during covid lockdown times but are still somewhat above those in pre-covid times, so still a healthy market for these.
However, China still has major covid issues and this is having a lingering adverse effect on the global economy and supply chain of surfactants, and other areas in general.
Covid-19 is broadly viewed as a “once in a lifetime” or “once in a century” pandemic. Let’s hope this is true. In the meantime, the world has some good leanings from covid-19 and on what steps to take and what steps not to take when/if the next pandemic hits!
Happi: Supply chains were stretched to the breaking point during Covid. Have they bounced back in general and what about surfactant supply chains in particular?
Gough: After the global supply chain nightmare of the whole of 2021 especially, supply chains seem to be on a general, but bumpy, road to recovery. There are still shortages in supply of key feedstocks such as ammonia, for example. Although the bulk of world ammonia consumption is for fertilizers, it is also a key feedstock for intermediates used to make key surfactants.
Also, issues with shipping, bulk-container availability, availabilities of feedstocks for surfactants in the far east, availabilities of trucks and drivers in Europe especially, and the general hikes in the fees for transporting goods in all regions of the world also caused problems with surfactant and surfactant feedstock supply chains but the situation with these seems now to be gradually improving.
Happi: How about inflation? It seems to be ebbing. How is pricing for surfactants specifically? Are increases slowing down?
Gough: High increases in inflation caused by global events like the conflict in Ukraine and high energy prices due to reduction in Russian gas and oil supply have also been gripping the world. These affected surfactant and other chemical feedstock prices, of course, but these now seem to be stabilizing in most areas of feedstock, including those used in surfactant production. We are even seeing prices of certain feedstocks starting to come down due to increased competition caused by increased activity by suppliers in India and China, for example. However, all feedstocks prices are considerably higher than they were in pre-covid times.
Happi: What consumer trends are driving the surfactant market? Can you comment on the move away from petroleum-based (or fossil-based) materials toward plant-based surfactants?
Gough: Consumers are being made increasingly aware of the need for the world to move to more sustainable practices in all walks of life and are looking for positive actions that have been taken in sustainability in particular in bringing the goods they buy to market.
There are some surfactants on the market which are 100% naturally derived, and some which are 100% petrochemical-derived (or fossil-derived). But many surfactants on the market are hybrids having a moiety which is naturally derived and moiety which is fossil-derived derived. Many surfactants are thus already said to be naturally derived or plant derived. Today, around 50% of surfactants in Europe already have at least one constituent from a renewable feedstock (plant-derived). The choice of feedstock will also depend upon the type of applications and the properties required. For some, biobased are best suited, but for others, petrochemical-based are more suitable.
However, a number of key global companies making products using fossil-derived surfactants and other fossil-derived ingredients have made pledges that by a certain year, their products will be fossil-free or have reduced fossil-derived content. Routes must therefore be found to make the fossil-derived feedstocks from non-fossil sources of carbon such as plants, biotechnology, chemical recycling of plastics and carbon capture and utilisation. This will be helped by mass balance schemes such as that run by ISCC in the transition of feedstocks from being petrochemical-derived to being fully segregated fossil-free. As yet, there is not a large presence of surfactants which have had their previously fossil-derived moieties substituted by fossil-free moieties but there is growing activity by feedstock suppliers in developing drop-in fossil-free feedstocks which are chemically identical to their fossil-derived counterparts. Therefore, over the coming years more and more suppliers will be launching fossil-free feedstocks and there will be more and more consumer products containing them.
Happi: We read so much about biosurfactants. What impact are these materials having on the traditional surfactant categories?
Gough: Biosurfactants in the sense of surface-active molecules produced by microorganisms have not yet quite reached a level which would make them commercially successful. But we carefully monitor these developments and recognize their improvements, as there is a high industrial interest in these novel ingredients. However, through advances in recent years in biotechnology and manufacturing routes to biosurfactants such as sophorolipids and rhamnolipids, certain companies are gearing up to make these on industrial scale.
So, whilst biosurfactants have limited presence in products in the market at present, we expect to see their presence grow over the coming years with additional new types of biosurfactants also emerging. A final point is that, whilst biosurfactants possess various attractive features, they can be lacking in certain performance attributes compared to synthetic surfactants and are currently not as cost effective (but this latter point will change in the future). They are therefore not drop-in replacements for most key synthetic surfactants and significant formulation work could be needed by companies wishing to use these biosurfactants in their products. However, rewards can be had if companies are able to develop products containing biosurfactants which meet consumer acceptance on performance and cost, of course!
Happi: What trends in the personal care and home care sectors are impacting the surfactant industry?
Gough: As has been mentioned in a previous question, product developers, manufacturers and consumers are all seeking more and more sustainability aspects associated with personal care and home care products. This goes for both the contents and the packaging that is used for the products. This had let to the recent emergence of more solid-format or concentrated-format types of products on the market which use no water, or reduced water content in their manufacturing than conventional products and also use less packaging. Product developers and manufacturers of these more sustainable product types therefore require surfactants (and other ingredients) which are capable of being used in these formats. Examples are solid shampoos which can be in powder form or bar form, concentrated shampoos which contain less water than conventional shampoos, and various novel solid or concentrated formats for laundry detergents, to name a few.
Another trend in some quarters with developers and manufacturers of conventional product types, or also, indeed, more sustainable product format types is to seek surfactants which have some kind of eco-organisation certification. Examples of this are Ecocert COSMOS and Ecocert Detergent, Natrue, etc. There are currently relatively few surfactant types which meet the criteria of these agencies but the list is expected to grow as more surfactants emerge over the coming years which are synthetic surfactants that are 100% naturally derived or are biosurfactants.
Happi: Why should readers attend the World Surfactant Congress? Can you share some of the highlights of the event?
Gough: The Congress represents the perfect opportunity to learn about the latest developments in key areas such as business and market trends, safety and regulatory affairs and technical and applications. Participants can take part in sessions covering scientific, technical and economic aspects of surfactants and their industrial and consumer applications. Posters will present latest developments in the field of research and technical applications. The CESIO Congress, a truly international event, is a must for those who wish to learn about challenges and opportunities for the surfactants industry.
This showcase event for the surfactants industry which will be held in the beautiful city of Rome offers a compelling lecture and poster program and will also be a unique occasion for professional networking and socializing in a warmly welcoming setting!