Project Reports

Gum rosin is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components. It is semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black. At room temperature rosin is brittle, but it melts at stove-top temperatures. It chiefly consists of different resin acids, especially abietic acid.

Gum rosin is an ingredient in printing inks, photocopying and laser printing paper, varnishes, adhesives (glues), soap, paper sizing, soda, soldering fluxes, and sealing wax. Rosin can be used as a glazing agent in medicines and chewing gum.

Rosin is composed primarily of resin acids and modified resin acids such as dimers and decarboxylated acids. Rosin acids are the complex mixture of several compounds, particularly abietic acid types and the pimaric acid types which belong to the diterpene group of organic compounds. Abietic acid has conjugated double links and carboxyl groups. Pimaric acid is the dehydro form of abietic acid. Oxidation of abietic acid makes colophony more brittle and darker. The carboxyl group and double links in the acids can yield many kinds of salts and modified compounds for better purposes. Rosin and modified forms (salts and esters) are used in making papers, varnishes, paints, adhesives, and some soaps. Modified products with fumaric and maleic acids (or anhydrydes) are used in manufacturing alkydes.  Other uses include sizing for paper products, paint dryers, plasticiser in rubber, waterproofing, emulsified oils, dressings for machine belting, enamels used in ceramic manufacture, roofing cement, sealing wax, linoleum, oil cloth, lutes ointments, plasters, veterinary medicines, disinfecting compounds, dry batteries and electrical insulation, production of fungicides, antislip agents for floors and shoes, violin bows.

India’s paper industry is worth Rs 225 billion. It accounts for about 1.6 per cent of the world’s production of paper and paperboard. In India, the demand for paper is set to far surpass supply and is expected to reach the level of 110 lakh tones by 2015 from 72 lakh tones in 2007. It is said that if the gross domestic product (GDP) grows at 10 per cent, paper demand will grow at 8 per cent. The per capita consumption of paper in India is barely 8 kg. Paper consumption is poised for a big leap forward in sync with the economic growth. About 38 per cent of the total demand comes from culture paper (creamwave), while 58 per cent arises out of the industrial paper sector. The rest 4 per cent comes from speciality paper including coated paper, tissues, posters, one-time carbon (OTC), cheques, drafts, etc.

Currently, the printing ink market in India is worth Rs.16 billion and is growing at the rate of 15-18 percent yearly. There are around 25 – 35 ink makers in the medium size category and an estimated 200 ink makers in the small scale segment. In terms of tonnage of ink manufactured in India, it is estimated to be 110 million tonnes.  The ink demand in the Newspaper Industry grew rapidly over the past 3 – 4 years by nearly 20%.  In spite of the global meltdown, the newspaper industry has grown nearly 25% in readership. The Packaging Industry which is another main consumer of printing ink, has witnessed a growth of approximately 12.5% and the corrugated packing industry grew by over 8%.The flexible packaging growth is in excess of 15% with the expansion of the food and retail industry.Another area of high growth driver is expected in the Can Coating segment which is presently at 3 – 4% growth, but is expected to show an increase when more food products like meats and seafood are increasingly packaged  and the beverage industry expands with increase in consumption of Sodas, Soft Drinks, Tea, Coffee and Beer.

The size of the paints industry in India is around Rs 95 billion. The current demand is estimated at 650,000 tonnes per annum. India’s paint industry has a bright future. The Indian paints market has the potential to grow over the next decade at 15 to 20 per cent per annum owing to more investments in the housing segment and improving infrastructure ,high  growth in the Indian automobile industry , etc. which in turn would mean greater demand for paints, as most people aspire for better lifestyle. Moreover the per capita consumption is also low. The demand for premium-category paints is likely to increase with rise in construction of commercial infrastructure.

Gum rosin is a valuable ingredient for all the above sectors and many more. The count is endless. The coming years will see a high demand for this product.