(1) Some enterprises need to further eliminate backward production capacity
After several years of development in China's citric acid industry, the production level has been greatly improved, but some enterprises have smaller production scales, and the technology and equipment levels are relatively backward. The production process has a poor effect on pollutants, and environmental protection and energy conservation. The awareness of emission reduction is not strong, affecting the stable discharge of pollutants. Some enterprises did not fully consider energy conservation and pollution control problems during engineering design. The design of plant, water, electricity, steam, heat and other systems is not standardized, which increases the difficulty of energy conservation and emission reduction; some enterprises have aging pollution control facilities. Drainage can not achieve long-term stability and compliance; some enterprise basic measurement facilities and professional staff are not well equipped, and three-level measurement is not realized, and the environmental protection personnel equipped also lack the training and management that it deserves, resulting in poor operation of environmental protection facilities.
(2) There is a gap between the extraction technology and the international advanced level
China's citric acid industry has been in an international advanced position in terms of strains, fermentation technology, sewage treatment and comprehensive utilization technology of wastes. However, there are still some gaps in the extraction technology compared with the international advanced level, such as most of the domestic separation and extraction processes. The calcium salt method has high yield intensity, while the foreign country adopts chromatographic separation and extraction process, which has less loss of active ingredients and lower energy consumption. At present, some of the core technologies in China's chromatographic separation technology are from abroad, and the cost is relatively high, which has become the main factor restricting the promotion.
(3) The resource utilization depth is not enough, and the added value of the product is low.
In the process of citric acid production, the comprehensive utilization of resources is insufficient, the industrial chain is short, and the added value of products is low. At present, the utilization rate of raw materials in some developed countries has reached 99%, while the average level in China is 95%. Most citric acid production enterprises use corn as raw material for fermentation production. 30% of the non-starch by-products in the raw materials are processed into feed for sale, and the deep processing is not high.
(4) Solid waste is not fully utilized
    Because the domestic citric acid separation and purification process mostly adopts the calcium salt precipitation method, a large amount of sulfuric acid and calcium carbonate are consumed in the citric acid production process, and a large amount of waste water and solid calcium sulfate waste residue are generated. In terms of sewage treatment, most of the domestic citric acid production enterprises have invested in the construction of pollution control facilities to enable wastewater to meet emission standards. However, a large amount of calcium sulphate waste residue is also produced in the citric acid production process. A small number of enterprises in the industry cannot fully synthesize calcium sulphate, and can only pile up or landfill for a long time, which causes certain harm to the environment.
(5) Low-end products dominate and high-end products are not developed enough
China's citric acid products are mainly dominated by low-end products, and high-end products are not developed enough, resulting in low domestic citric acid prices. In the face of increasingly fierce market competition, production companies should increase their technical investment and develop high-end products downstream. For example, anhydrous citric acid has the characteristics of no agglomeration, transportation, storage and use. The demand for anhydrous citric acid has increased rapidly in recent years, and it is one of the development directions of citric acid products. In addition, China's citric acid deep processing products are few and less than half of foreign countries. At present, the downstream products of citric acid already included in the US Pharmacopoeia include calcium citrate, ferric citrate, hydrogen diamine citrate, ammonium ferric citrate, zinc citrate and the like. The production and application of these products in China have already started, and Chinese enterprises should take this opportunity to develop in the direction of refinement, diversification and serialization.
(6) Products depend on exports
The rapid expansion of citric acid production has intensified market competition and accelerated market integration, and production has rapidly concentrated in large enterprises. At most, there are hundreds of companies producing citric acid in China, with an average production capacity of only a few thousand tons. At present, there are more than 20 production companies. However, this rapid development of production capacity has an impact on both enterprises and markets. The first is to rely heavily on exports. In 2002, China's citric acid exports reached 280,000 tons, and the export volume accounted for 72% of the output. In 2006, the export volume was 571,000 tons, and the export ratio was 79.3%. In 2010, exports were 85. 10,000 tons, the export ratio is 86.8%, and the proportion of exports is gradually increasing. In recent years, the prices of energy, chemical raw materials, and food have risen sharply, and the costs of labor and environmental protection have also increased. However, due to excessive competition in the citric acid market, the increase in export prices is far less than the increase in costs, which has caused great difficulties for business operations. .