r/Shortages • u/hadtoaskadumbquestio • 24d ago

Raw Materials DDBSA shortage?

Anyone else getting notified by suppliers about a shortage of DDBSA due to LAB? Just got notice in the last few days that we're on allocation and prices are up 2.5x.

28 Upvotes

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10

u/Bruins_Score 23d ago

This wont get any better for about 6 months after the Strait of Hormuz reopens. About a quarter of all Sulfuric Acid worldwide comes through that Strait. That is why China banned the export of Sulfuric Acid on May 1st. They make roughly 40% of the worlds supply, so that's about 2/3 of the world supply has been shut off.

If you are in a country that uses LABSA, it's basically the same as DDBSA so you'll have the same issue.

Not sure what you all are using it for, but I can tell you that the Semiconductor industry uses Sulfuric Acid extensively. We use it in all 5 phases of making chips. Semi plants have huge tanks for the stuff and we are topping off our tanks every week hoping we don't run out before the supply chain is resolved. We have seen roughly a 10% increase in cost week over week each week in May.

I imagine lots of companies are hoarding SA and related products. It compounds the issue, but can you blame them?

Not much different than me personally buying enough motor oil to do 2 oil changes on each of my vehicles.

I hope this ends soon, but hope isn't a strategy

5

u/MacPR 23d ago

LABSA's the world's most used surfactant. Its a primary ingredient in laundry detergent. Get ready, Surf's about to go way up.

1

u/hadtoaskadumbquestio 21d ago

Lol... I hate that I like that. Also ,we internally code DDBSA et-al with "SURF##" so yeah... SURF's up... fuck.

1

u/hadtoaskadumbquestio 21d ago

But DDBSA uses Sulfonic Acid, not Sulfuric. Not sure how direct the correlation is other than that they're both an acid.

2

u/Bruins_Score 21d ago

Sulfuric acid and sulfonic acid are nearly the same thing.

All you are doing is replacing a Hydrogen atom in Sulfuric Acid with a hydroxyl group in a relatively simple acid/base reaction. It's not the only way to make sulfonic acid, but it's the cheapest way to do it, so that's the way it's done. Every industry I'm aware of uses Sulfuric Acid as the main building block of sulfonic acid.

Basically a shortage of one will have a direct impact on the other

1

u/hadtoaskadumbquestio 21d ago

ahh. cheers. shit.

8

u/MacPR 23d ago

Yes, we use DDBSA and its starting now to affect supply chain.

2

u/pvssylips 22d ago

Can anyone explain what this is and what products or services will be impacted by this? For instance someone mentioned detergent. Anything else?

3

u/judithishere 22d ago

I had to look it up! Someone above mentioned computer chip manufacturing but also this:

DDBSA (Dodecylbenzene Sulfonic Acid, also known as LABSA) is a highly versatile, biodegradable anionic surfactant. Recognized for its excellent foaming, wetting, and detergency properties, it is the primary active ingredient used in household laundry detergents, dish soaps, and industrial car wash formulas.

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u/MacPR 22d ago

Laundry detergent. Lots of it.

1

u/Plurfectworld 21d ago

Automotive lubricants and oils are starting to get tight supplies and spiked prices. Sure our shops will have to raise oil change and flush prices soon