China is leading the way for the carbon tetrachloride industry in the Asia Pacific region, beating India, South Korea, and Japan, which are also strong contenders in this section of the chemical market.

Carbon tetrachloride is also known as tetrachloromethane or carbon tet. It was first produced in 1839 by a French chemist and has since become a valuable inorganic chemical and is similar to methane gas.

The non-polar compound is popular as it is a good solvent, and is able to dissolve other non-polar compounds like oil, fat and iodine, New Daily Herald reported. It is also common in fire extinguishers, cleaning agents and as a refrigerant, helping to produce chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants.

The chemical manufacturing process to create carbon tetrachloride involves the chlorination of methane, of which carbon tet is a by-product. It is synthesised when other chloromethane products, such as dichloromethane, are manufactured.

Its use has been restricted recently, as chlorofluorocarbon has been banned due to its ozone-depleting properties. Furthermore, carbon tetrachloride was forbidden in the USA in 1970 after health concerns were raised regarding tetrachloro carbon-containing pesticides, as carbon tet is often used as pesticides to get rid of insects in grains.

Despite this, the compound is still in demand, as it is frequently needed as a laboratory reagent. For instance, it is utilised as a solvent or as a source of chlorine. Its hepatotoxin property means it can be used in research that involves hepatoprotective agents.

According to latest report regarding the compound entitled Carbon Tetrachloride Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015-2023, Asia Pacific boasts the largest and fastest growing market for the compound, as well as other hydrocarbons containing chlorine.

The report stated: “The demand for carbon tetrachloride is rising due to its increasing demand from application industries and increasing population needs.”

China has a huge population of 1.42 billion people, which is equivalent to nearly a fifth of the total number of people in the whole world. As a result of this, it has become a leader for this chemical manufacturing industry in the Asia Pacific region.

While India, South Korea and Japan also boast big markets, they follow behind China’s demand. This could be due to its superior population figures, with China having even more residents than India (1.37 billion).

It is not just the huge countries that are making an impact in the market though, as the report shows Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia – all emerging economies – have been influential in the chemical industry over the last few years. Recently, they have involved themselves in organising some of the biggest global chemical manufacturing events, which has helped to boost industrial chemical activities and production in the region.

Demand in North America and Europe had historically been significant, with production over the last ten years being high. However, restrictions imposed by new environmental regulations have meant use of the compound – and subsequently, demand for it – has declined rapidly.

As it releases greenhouse gases, carbon tet has been replaced by tetrachloroethylene in fire extinguishes and refrigerants in Europe and North America recently.

For a better understanding of the process of chemical analysis here in the UK, take a look here.