It is known that the sunlight is made up of the visible light, infrared and ultraviolet rays; and the spectrum closer to the visible light has more spectral energy. Therefore, the most important task for the thermal barrier coating is to block the infrared rays close to the visible lights. Currently, there are two infrared barrier detectors to test the heat insulation for the coating: one detector for the infrared wavelength of 1400nm, and the other for the wavelength of 950nm (which is closer to the visible light). For the wavelength of 1400nm, most thermal barrier coatings can reach to a heat insulation rate above 90%. However, the insulation rate for 950nm is much more important to the heat insulation of the coating, and it has been a huge difficulty to block the infrared rays of 950nm under the premise of high light transmission, and the highest insulation rate can only reach to 77%. But now, a company named Shahe Yujiu New Materials Co.,Ltd makes a breakthrough in thermal barrier technology. It has successfully improved the blocking rate of 950nm infrared rays to 85%, increasing the previous record by 8%, and the new thermal barrier coating will have a much better heat insulation effect. Though the insulation rate is improved, and the production cost is also increased by 50%, the price for the new thermal barrier coating will remain unchanged, therefore, customers can buy better products at the same price.

With the improvement of health awareness, sugar substitutes gradually enter into our life. However, people are afraid of the chemical compounds made in the laboratory due to their side effects. Therefore, natural plant extracts are becoming more popular than ever and stevia is such a product that can satisfy consumers' needs. Stevia is a "pioneer" in natural sweeteners and has been used for centuries. As early as 1500 years ago, Guaranís in South America began to consume stevia, which they called ka'a he'e ("sweet herb"). Japan is the first country to develop and use stevia, which accounts for approximately 40% of the sweetener market in Japan and its safety has been confirmed in some way. In the United States, many international brands have also launched stevia-based beverages and foods. Products containing stevia Since 2012, the number of new products containing stevia has almost doubled. In the second quarter of 2017, the foods and beverages containing stevia on the global market increased by 13% compared to the same period last year. Candy and chewing gum is the fastest growing category using stevia, with a growth of 125% Coca-Cola, Danone, Kraft Heinz, Nestle and PepsiCo have all put new products using this natural sweetener on the market, including snacks, dairy products, ready-to-eat cereals, carbonated drinks, fruit juice, etc. The following Lay's fresh tomato flavor and lime-flavored potato chips have also used stevia. Stevia has a wider application in beverages. Carbonated drinks and fruit juice beverages containing stevia has increased by 27% compared to the same period of last year, and energy drinks increased by 102%. Instafamous tea π also uses stevia In 2013, Coca-Cola launched the green packaging coca-cola-life in Argentina and Chile (perhaps because of the tradition of stevia used in South America). It uses stevia to replace 40% of the sugar, as a result, it can reduce 40% of calories in the ordinary cola. Its new packaging in 2018 highlights the “naturalness” of the stevia, which can better adapt to the consumers’  preference  for natural extracts. However, there are also some consumers pointing out its bitter aftertaste, and that is the biggest drawback of stevia. Coca-Cola-life 2018 new packaging Application difficulties and new breakthroughs Stevia can not be a perfect substitute for sucrose due to its certain defects. Reb A stevia extract is most widely used in food and beverage, however, low purity of Reb A can produce uncomfortable taste, while high-purity Reb A (such as RA95 to RA99) has a low solubility, which limits its application in beverages. Meanwhile, there are still many companies developing new type steviosides. For example, the Optimizer STEVIATM series developed by SGF has similar or even better taste than high-purity Reb A stevia extracts. Cargill and Evolva's Fermented Stevia EverSweet may emerge in 2018.

Monosodium glutamate is a common food ingredient, it was first extracted from kelp by a professor of Tokyo University, who named it "Ajinomoto." Now it’s widely used in cooking and food processing. Modern MSG is mainly manufactured from grain (corn, wheat, rice, etc.), and purified by microbial fermentation. Cost Structure In the production of monosodium glutamate, corn accounts for the largest part of the cost. A ton of MSG consumes 2.2-2.3 tons of corn. Therefore, when the price of corn goes up, it may cause the MSG price to rise; and  if the price of corn continues to slump or decline, the decline rate of MSG is expected to be lower than that of the corn. The MSG production bases of Meihua Group are located in Tongliao (480,000 tons) and Xinjiang (220,000 tons). The company controls the cost of corn by enriching its supply sources. According to the statistics, the company's corn supply source in 2015 was more diverse than that in 2014, and the cost was also well controlled. Demand Since MSG's main downstream needs are food-processing and catering, so the needs of these two industries may  have a profound impact on the demand for MSG. According to National Bureau of Statistics, in 2016, the main business income of the domestic food manufacturing industry had a 8.8% year-on-year increase and reached 2.36 trillion Yuan, and total profit had a 9.2% year-on-year increase and reached 200 billion Yuan. The catering industry also maintained a good profit growth rate. The steady growth in the food manufacturing and catering industries ensures the market demand for MSG. In recent years, China's MSG export has become more and more difficult. At the end of 2008, the EU imposed 33.8%-39.7% anti-dumping duties against Chinese MSG; in 2014, the US Department of Commerce announced that it would impose 8.30%-8.32% anti-dumping duties on MSG made in China. However, China's MSG production capacity accounts for about 75% of the world's production capacity, export growth still remains stable. According to the data from China Starch Industry Association, the export of monosodium glutamate from 2008 to 2016 had increased from 200,000 tons to 420,000 tons, with an average annual growth rate of 13.8%, of which the exports to Europe and the United States accounted for 50% of the total export. Oligopoly MSG production is mainly concentrated in China. The large-scale development of China's MSG industry began in the 1980s. At present, China has become the largest producer and consumer of MSG. In 2014, 75% of the global MSG production capacity was concentrated in China. Since 2003, the domestic MSG industry has appeared oligopoly after three industry integrations. Before the market integration, there were probably 200  domestic companies. The low concentration and the weak bargaining power may lead to vicious price competition. There were three rounds of industry integration taking place in 2003-2004, 2007-2009, and 2011-2013, eliminating backward techniques, increasing concentration degree and finally cutting down to about 10 large companies. production capacities of major companies Name List Production Capacities(tons) Fufeng Group 1,200,000 Meihua Group 700,000 EPPEN 420,000 Lotus Health Group 160,000 Linghua Group Limited 100,000 Shandong Shenghua Group 80,000 According to the data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, from 2010 to 2013, the backward production capacity of the MSG industry was eliminated by 189,000 tons, 93,800 tons, 143,000 tons and 285,000 tons respectively. The concentration of industry has been further enhanced. The market is monopolized by Fufeng Group, Meihua Group and EPPEN, and the CR3 is about 75%.

The Certificate of Inspection for Goods Inward/Outward is promulgated by the administrations of quality supervision to prove that the import/export product has been submitted for inspection and quarantine. It is a very important document for the export and import in China. If you want to import/export some goods within the scope of the inspection and quarantine catalog (non-catalogue commodities may not be subject to inspection and quarantine), then you need to go to the Administration of Inspection and Quarantine first and have your goods inspected. After the goods have passed the inspection, you can get the Certificate of Inspection for Goods Inward/ Outward, and use it for the customs declaration. This procedure can affect the clearance of goods and has influenced the global trade of various products. To simplify the whole customs procedures and enhance the trade efficiency, the General Administration of Customs has decided to cancel the Certificate of Inspection for Goods Inward/Outward from June 1, 2018. After that, the inspection procedures and the customs declaration can be combined together, and the import/export company only needs to go through all the procedures at the customs. This is a big step in the institutional reform of the Chinese customs, and it will benefit numerous Chinese companies and those foreign companies which have business with China. Many companies in the chemical industry will also benefit from this decision, because many chemical products are in the scope of inspection and quarantine catalog , for example food ingredients, raw materials of coatings, textile printing and dyeing, agrochemicals, daily chemicals and rubber etc., and from now on, the import and export of these chemical products can be simplified. Compared with the previous customs clearance process, the complete cancellation of the Certificate of Inspection for Goods Inward/ Outward will simplify declaration procedures, reduce customs clearance steps, and speed up the release of goods. It will not only lower the clearance costs but also facilitate the global trade. It is expected that there will be more than 10% of the import and export goods can benefit from it.

DSM announced that it will upgrade the plant of DSM Jiangshan Pharmaceutical (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd, and will suspend vitamin C production for 4 months in the second half of 2018 The Royal DSM N.V. announced that it will continue increasing the  investment in production facilities of Jiangshan Vitamin C plant to enhance its operating capabilities, and will stop production for a long time in the second half of 2018 for overall facility upgrades. This action will again reflect DSM's long-term commitment to higher quality, safety, sustainability, and productivity. The suspension will start in June and will last for 4 months. Upgrade for production facilities not only follows DSM's sustainable development strategy, but also actively responds to the "Green China, Beautiful China" policy of Chinese government. Moreover, it will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the sustainable development of Jiangsu Province. During the suspension, DSM will ensure the stable supply of vitamin C for all contracted customers.

THAIFEX 2018, held at the IMPACT Exhibition & Convention Center, Thailand, from May 29 to June 2, came to a successful ending last week. This exhibition is one of the most influential food & beverage, food technology and retail & franchise exhibitions in the region, connecting suppliers worldwide to buyers from the fastest growing emerging markets in Asia and beyond. This year, the five day event gathered about 60 thousand visitors and hundreds of experts of the food industry under one roof with an exhibition area of 107,000 m2 As a leading chemical B2B platform, OKCHEM was also one of the 2,500 exhibitors and showed itself at stand CC39. In this exhibition, OKCHEM had once again demonstrated its value to both the buyers and suppliers as a professional platform. A coffee manufacturer from Thailand was very interested in our ChemBnB group buying. After we showed him our web pages, he took a screenshot and registered on our website immediately. He said the group buying in foreign trade was very innovative and it might help him a lot in the future purchasing process. One visitor form the branch office of an international company in Thailand, came to our stand and said they wanted to search sucralose. But we did not have any suppliers of sucralose, so we asked him to submit the buying request online and could help him search quality sellers. “It was fantastic!” the visitor was very satisfied with our service. Some buyers were interested in the product prices on our website, and even wrote down the manufacturers and prices on the notebooks. There were also a lot of visitors attracted by our “big bang” lucky draw. All the registered users could have the chance to win a $100, $500, and $1000 voucher on OKCHEM. With so many amazing prizes every day, there were plenty of visitors coming to our booth to try their luck. All the lucky ones had been displayed on our homepage, and the prizes had also been sent to their accounts. Thanks for joining us at THAIFEX 2018! We hope everyone of you can enjoy your journey on OKCHEM.

The 16th China Roofing & Waterproofing Expo was held in Shanghai from May 28 to 30, 2018. In this exhibition, Wacker, a famous chemical company, introduced a silane modified polymer, GENIOSIL®  WP 1, which can be used as an ideal raw material for waterproof coating. GENIOSIL®  WP 1 is the clear liquid of silane-curing organic polymers that combine the typical advantages of silicones and polyurethanes. With excellent weather resistance, good mechanical property, and extremely low viscosity, these polymers do not require the addition of plasticizers and solvents, or a tin catalyst for the production of adhesives and sealants. Therefore, GENIOSIL®  WP 1 is exactly an environment-friendly product.Because of  its low viscosity which ensures easy of processing, a wide formulation tolerance and outstanding mechanical properties, and its fast curing rate without blistering and can adhere to many materials without a primer, GENIOSIL®  WP 1 is a perfect material for environmental friendly waterproof coatings, especially suitable for the coating applied on roof and other inclined surfaces, and can also be used in civil architecture and urban underground gallery etc,.

Recently, many chemical factories in different cities of China have come to suspend operations. As a result, the prices of many chemicals, such as textile, dyeing & printing, plastics, and chemical fiber, etc., have gone up. And this will not only affect the domestic market in China but also influence its international import and export business. There are several factors for the massive suspend operations, and the major three are: Policy of Production SafetyProduction safety is always an important task for the government. In December 2017, the State Administration of Work Safety promulgated an annual plan for the control and management of production safety. And in April 2018, the General Office of the State Council published another new policy which allocated explicitly the responsibility of production safety to every local party and government leading cadre. This policy requires those local governments to utilize all means such as inspection, examination, inspiring and punishing methods, etc. to carry out the policy in production. Guided by these policies, many local governments start to solve the problems related to the production safety. Take Jiangsu Province as an example: in the first quarter of 2018, 18,600 companies were inspected by the government and 88 of them were demanded to suspend production and make corrections. Policy of Environmental ProtectionIt is believed that the Earth should not be sacrificed for the society development, and Chinese government has invested many funds and human resources to environment protection this year. In Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the surrounding regions, making the sky blue again is one of the major work for the local government. And the main task is to reduce the discharge of SO2 and NOx. To reach this goal, all those companies, which could not meet the standard of VOCs’ discharge, had been ordered to suspend operation or limit production until September 2017. One month later, Chairman Xi put forward a harmonious co-existence between human and nature at the 19th CPC National Congress, which re-emphasized the importance of environmental protection. After that, the local governments have made their own plan and policy of environmental protection. Many provinces like Guangdong are accelerating its process to improve and punish those manufacturers which have lagged behind the city planning, cannot meet standard of pollutant discharge or have been illegally constructed. The government will take various measures like suspend operation, relocation, and rectification, etc., to manage these manufacturers. Hubei is a great industry province, which is near to the Yangtze River, and in order to protect the water resource, all parts of Hubei are taking corresponding measures. For example, in Yichang, 134 chemical factories are closing, transforming or moving out. SCO SummitIn June, SCO Summit will be held in Qingdao, and the chemical industry in Shandong province will be affected accordingly. Many restrictions have already been issued. In Yantai, it is required eight works related to the hazardous chemicals should be suspended during the summit, including hot work, confined space work, work at height, etc. In Qingdao, it demands that the containers shipping hazardous chemicals will not be allowed to transit from the port, and that will obviously affect the import and export of chemical industry. According to the plan of Qingdao’s government, those related companies will resume normal operation after the suspend operation period (26th May to 12th July). However, Shandong expects to complete the industrial upgrading, including the transformation of chemical engineering and the transition of energy sources before the June 2020, therefore, the chemical industry of this province may still be affected for a few years after the SCO Summit.   In addition to the above causes, there are also some other factors that may influence the price of Chinese chemical products, and the rising prices of chemical raw material may influence many industries. Based on the current situation, there is no huge price cut in the short term. Therefore, it is recommended to stock up as early as possible to reduce the loss caused by the rising prices in China.

Recently, a scientific achievement named “Development and Industrialization of Preservative and Anti-mildew Film for Agricultural Byproducts” has passed the evaluation by experts from Hunan Food Science and Technology Association in Changsha. According to the experts, this film will provide a new and reliable method to reduce the risk of food damage. This film was co-developed by Changde Jinde Laser Technology Co.,Ltd, Harbin Institute of Technology and Hunan Agricultural University, and took them five years to complete the research. It combines the paint with preservatives and anti-mildew agent to form an environmental protection coating. In this technique, the coating process and microcapsule granulation technology were used for the first time to apply functional materials on the polyethylene film at home and abroad. By painting this functional coating on the surface of the polyethylene film and making different adjustments according to different food’s requirements, the film can retain freshness and have anti-mildew, anti-fog and other properties. Before the assessment, the technology has already been applied in many companies and organizations including Beijing Capital Agribusiness Group, Beijing Vegetable Basket Program, Xiangtan Binzhilang Food Company, Hunan Kouweiwang Group, Inner Mongolia Fengzhen Moon Cake Association, and Inner Mongolia Zhang Jintao Smoked Chicken Company. It shows good reproducibility, high maturity and great economic efficiency. For example, for dried fruits, the barrier property can be increased by 2 to 4 times compared with the regular packaging materials, the freshness preservation time can be extended by 1 to 3 times, and the anti-fogging effect will be increased by 80%. The expert team led by Chen Kefu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, unanimously believes that the preservative and anti-mildew film is a sophisticated and innovative, and has reached an internationally advanced level. They recommended the technology to be industrialized as soon as possible.   source: Hunan Daily been published after edit and translate

Nowadays, along with the development of social economy, environment protection is becoming more important than ever. As the traditional coatings may cause pollution to the environment, more and more people are turning to water-based paints. Just as its name implies, water-based paint is a kind of coating  using water as the diluent instead of organic solvents such as benzene. Therefore, it is much safer compared with the traditional oil-based coating. The toluene and xylene in oil-based coating will produce photochemical reactions after entering into the atmosphere and will cause obvious harm to the ozone layer. On the contrary, water-based paint is better for energy conservation and environmental protection. Moreover,  the transportation and storage cost for the water-based paint is much lower than others due to its safety. However, the water-based paint also has its weakness, such as the soft and thin paint film, poorer scratch resistance and longer drying time. While the oil-based coating is doing much better on these aspects, the film is full and hard with stronger scratch resistance and shorter drying time. These shortcomings caused a great difficulty to the development of water-based paint in China, but a new research is potentially to change this condition. Water-based paint has an important auxiliary, polythene resin, which can change and improve the color, appearance, stability and weather ability of the coating, and can also reduce the pollution to environment. It plays a key role in ameliorating and improving the performance of the coatings. But the technology of polythene resin for water-based paint was monopolized by a foreign multinational company, as a result, Chinese customers can only depend on import but the high price has deterred  many people to the new paint. In October 2017, Yangzi Petrochemical Industrial Corporation completed the first industrial trail production of this auxiliary, and it turned out to be well received by customers. In order to satisfy the demand of the clients, the second trail production was carried out last month. Meanwhile, the application scope of the product is still expanding, and this new product will promote greatly the development of Chinese water-based paint industry.