The Philippine chemical industry is one of the country’s largest manufacturing sectors and supplies

products used in many other sectors including agriculture/agribusiness, electronics, food processing,
healthcare, national defense, and packaging . The industry’s primary aim is to transform the country’s
rich natural resources into higher-value products that meet the needs of domestic and global markets.
(BELLEN, J 2017)

The chemical industry of the Philippines is the third largest sub-sector of the manufacturing industry
with Php 480.5 Billion registered revenues as of 20131. The chemical and chemical products sub-sector
also remains to be the third largest contributor in the Gross Value Added for Manufacturing until the 3rd
quarter of 2017 with Php 163.47 Billion (at constant 2000 prices) Chemicals touch nearly 90% of all
manufactured products. It is also one of the largest tradable products

in the world amounting to US$ 6 Trillion in total trade.

The Philippine Chemical Industry covers the following sub-sectors:

• Basic Chemicals (resins, basic chemicals, gases, organic, inorganic, alcohols)

• Chemical Products (pharmaceutical, soap & detergent, paints, inkcs, cosmetics, fertilizers,

pesticides, adhesives)

• Rubber Products (tires, industrial products, re-threading)

• Plastic Products (plastic articles, plastic products, pipes & tubings, industrial products, films,

sheets).

Due to its versatile applications, lactic acid is deemed as one of the most important hydroxycarboxylic
acids and it is in high demand (Lopes MS et al. 2012). Around 370,000 metric tons of lactic acid was
produced in the year 2017 (C. Rodrigues et al. 2017) and the demand of lactic acid is rapidly increasing
every year at the rate of 5-8% (Yadav et al. 2011; Jamshidian M et al. 2010).

The demand for lactic acid in the Asia- Pacific region is emerging fast with the rise in the application as
the food additive. The major driver for the market is increased demand in meat and other foods
applications of lactic acid, availability of cheap raw materials, innovation in technology, and strong
support of big manufacturing companies in the region. The low cost of raw materials such as molasses,
sugarcane, starch, and other carbohydrates for production has been a significant advantage for the
industry as it directly lowers the final cost of the product. The key player of the lactic acid market
includes Henan Jindan Lactic Acid Co., Ltd.

In the Philippines, lactic acid play a major role in food preservation. Different regions in the country uses
fermentation as the main process to preserve food.