Tall oil fatty acid marketing

Once considered a low cost by-product of crude tall oil fractionation, tall oil fatty acids are now being used for their own distinctive and specific properties in special applications. Consumption of tall oil fatty acids in protective coatings, soaps, and ore flotation has declined in recent years, however, usage in chemical intermediates has increased significantly in the past 10 years. These intermediates are dimer acids, oleic and linoleic acids, epoxidized esters, amidoamines, and diacids. Static tall oil production during the mid 1970s caused by changes in paper mill operations (i.e., continuous digestion, waste recycling, increased usage of chips and hard wood) has increased the demand for higher priced oleic acid and other unsaturated fatty acids.