detergent

China's detergent industry has developed fast in recent years, and the output is holding the second place in the world. The per-capita consumption of detergents has risen from 1 kg in 1980 to 2.4 kg. China's detergent industry includes major products in two categories of soap (toilet soap) and synthetic detergents, main raw materials and auxiliaries of synthetic detergents such as alkyl benzene, fatty alcohol, surfactants and sodium tripolyphosphate, as well as co-products in soap production. In 2004, China’s detergent market expanded quickly. Major detergent products are synthetic detergent and soap. Synthetic detergent mainly refers to detergent powder. At present, detergent products in China lag considerably behind those in developed countries in both technology application and product structure. People’s living standard is improving, and the rural market is far from saturated. All these leave great development space for the detergent industry. China’s detergent market is in the stage of competitive monopoly. Products are highly segmented in the respects of function and form. There is no obvious difference between numerous detergent brands’ market shares, and profit has reduced in the industry. The industry is in the late maturity period. With the development of science and technology, the replacement of chemical technology by biotechnology becomes the new feature of technology upgrade of the detergent products. The new round of technological changes brings opportunities for domestic detergent producers.