my country’s menthol market is in short supply and highly dependent on imports

Menthol, also known as menthol, has a chemical formula of C10H20O and is an organic compound extracted from the leaves and stems of mint. Menthol appears as white crystals, soluble in ether, ethanol, acetone, etc., and slightly soluble in water. Menthol is generally divided into two categories: D-menthol and L-menthol.

Menthol is widely used in daily chemicals, medicine, food, etc. In the field of daily chemicals, menthol is highly alkaline and can be used as a toothpaste additive. By adjusting the oral pH value, it inhibits the growth of oral bacteria and can also remove oral odor. As health awareness continues to strengthen, Chinese consumers are paying more and more attention to oral health issues. As an essential oral cleaning product, the demand for toothpaste continues to grow. In 2021, my country’s toothpaste product sales will reach 34.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.0%. Driven by the rapid development of downstream industries, my country’s menthol market continues to expand.

L-menthol is the mainstream product in the menthol market. Since the menthol molecule has 3 asymmetric carbons, there are 8 optical isomers in total, but only L-menthol is an isomer extracted from natural mint leaves. L-menthol, also known as L-menthol, has a refreshing mint aroma and has a wide range of applications, accounting for nearly 95.0% of the menthol market. L-menthol is currently one of the largest-selling flavor monomers in the world. In 2021, global L-menthol market sales exceeded US$700 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%.

Menthol preparation methods include chemical synthesis and natural purification. The chemical synthesis method mainly uses thymol, citronellal, myrcene, phellandrene, etc. as raw materials, and produces menthol through catalysis, esterification and other reactions. Thymol is a high-quality raw material for the production of menthol. It can be isolated from natural substances and can also be obtained by alkylation of m-cresol. The natural purification method is the mainstream preparation method of menthol, accounting for 70.0% of the output. The natural purification method uses natural peppermint oil as raw material, but it is easily affected by environmental and climate factors, resulting in tight supply of raw materials.

According to the “2022-2027 Menthol Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, my country As one of the world’s largest menthol consumers, my country’s menthol industry is currently in a situation of overall supply exceeding demand and is highly dependent on imports. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s menthol imports will reach 22,000 tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 37.5%. As the largest menthol producer in Asia, India accounts for nearly 80.0% of my country’s total menthol imports.

Industry analysts said that menthol has a mint aroma and cooling effect and is widely used in many fields. With the gradual release of market demand , the future development prospects of the industry will be broader. L-menthol, as a representative product of menthol, continues to grow in sales, which will provide impetus to the development of the menthol industry. But at present, high import dependence is still the main challenge facing the development of my country’s menthol industry.