Relying on the empowerment of bioeconomy policies and downstream green transformation demands, China's alkali lignan industry has entered a stable growth cycle, with market and production capacity continuously rising. The penetration rate of applications in the traditional chemical material replacement field has significantly increased, making it one of the core tracks for the resource utilization of agricultural and forestry biomass.
Industry research data shows that in 2025, China's alkali lignan market size will reach 1.28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, steadily expanding compared to the 1.15 billion yuan market size in 2024. Capacity is also maintaining growth. In 2024, the total domestic alkali lignande industry capacity will be about 186,000 tons, up 6.8% year-on-year. In 2025, capacity will further increase to 199,000 tons, maintaining a stable growth rate of 7.0%. The industry's capacity structure continues to upgrade toward environmental protection and high-end development, with low-end extensive capacity gradually being phased out.
Currently, alkali lignin, as a core by-product of the pulp industry, is the most commercially mature and largest lithanoid category globally, accounting for 85%-90% of the global industrial lignin output. Compared to traditional petroleum-based chemical raw materials, alkali lignan offers advantages such as biodegradability, low cost, and low carbon emissions, meeting the green transformation needs of various industries. Currently, its core application scenarios continue to expand, and in the building materials sector, demand for environmentally friendly concrete admixtures keeps rising; In the wood-based panel industry, alkali lignin serves as a phenolic resin modifier and can effectively replace formaldehyde additives, with related application usage increasing by 11.5% year-on-year; In agriculture, relying on the characteristics of bio-based slow-release carriers, it is widely used in the production of slow-release fertilizers and pesticide additives.
On the policy front, the national "14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomy Development" clearly lists high-value utilization of lignin as a key development direction, providing strong support for technological upgrading and capacity expansion in the alkali lignin industry. Industry experts predict that by 2026, the domestic alkali lignosin market size will exceed 1.4 billion yuan, continuing double-digit growth. With the deepening of the dual carbon strategy, alkali lignans are expected to replace traditional chemical materials in more industrial scenarios, continuously unlocking industrial development potential.