n-Hexane (CAS 110-54-3), also known as normal hexane, is the straight-chain C₆ alkane: a clear, colourless, highly flammable liquid with a faint gasoline-like odour, a boiling point of 68.7 °C, a flash point of approximately −22 °C and a density of 0.659 g/cm³. Its commercial identity rests on a property that few solvents combine so effectively at industrial scale: n-hexane is highly non-polar, low-boiling and rapidly evaporating, which makes it the reference solvent for extracting non-polar target molecules—vegetable oils from oilseeds, active pharmaceutical ingredients from reaction mixtures, and oils and greases from precision surfaces—without co-extracting water or polar impurities. That selectivity is why n-hexane is the dominant solvent in edible-oil extraction globally and a workhorse in pharmaceutical purification and electronics cleaning. But 2026 changed the regulatory status of the molecule. On 4 February 2026, ECHA added n-hexane to the REACH Candidate List as a Substance of Very High Concern under Article 57(f), citing specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure (STOT RE), with the revised harmonised classification including H372 taking effect from 26 May 2026. That listing does not ban n-hexane, but it converts every supply chain into a documentation chain: Article 33 information obligations, SVHC declarations in Section 15 of the SDS, and SCIP notifications for articles above 0.1% all become operative. The global market reflects the molecule’s enduring industrial role. Market sizing ranges from approximately USD 990 million in 2025 rising to USD 1,228 million by 2032 at a 3.2% CAGR, to a broader USD 2.80 billion in 2025 reaching USD 3.61 billion by 2034 at a 2.80% CAGR, with volume around 2.00 million tonnes in 2025 growing to 2.90 million tonnes by 2035 at a 3.80% CAGR. The divergence is methodological, but the strategic point is consistent: n-hexane is a volume solvent whose future is now defined not only by extraction performance but by the ability of the supplier to document SVHC compliance lot by lot.
Core Application Fields and Demand Architecture
n-Hexane demand concentrates in four functional arenas where its non-polar character, low boiling point and rapid evaporation are difficult to substitute at equivalent cost and specification: edible-oil extraction, pharmaceutical manufacturing and purification, industrial cleaning and degreasing, and adhesives, coatings and specialty formulations.
In edible-oil extraction, n-hexane is the dominant solvent for recovering vegetable oils from soybeans, rapeseed, sunflower seed, cottonseed, peanut, corn germ and other oilseeds. The solvent dissolves the oil while leaving polar compounds behind, and its low boiling point allows recovery by distillation with relatively low energy input. Food-grade n-hexane is specified for this application, and the segment is the largest single outlet by volume. The demand driver is straightforward: rising edible-oil consumption in developing countries, and the efficiency of solvent extraction relative to mechanical pressing for high-yield recovery. The specification logic is food-safety-oriented—benzene and sulfur must be low, and the lot must be documented as suitable for food-contact extraction.
In pharmaceutical manufacturing and purification, n-hexane serves as an extraction solvent, a crystallization antisolvent and a washing medium for filter cakes and isolated solids. It is used in the synthesis and purification of drug substances, in the preparation of intermediates, and in chromatographic applications where a non-polar mobile phase is required. The specification logic here is the most demanding: benzene, sulfur and evaporation residue must be controlled to low levels, and the lot must be supported by documentation that satisfies ICH Q3C residual-solvent requirements and, where applicable, pharmacopoeial-grade qualification. A non-polar impurity carried into a crystallized API can fail assay or colour specification, and the supplier’s lot-level analytical data is the buyer’s first line of defence.
In industrial cleaning and degreasing, n-hexane is used for cleaning and degreasing in industrial settings, removing oils and greases from metal parts, precision components and manufacturing equipment. In electronics, it serves as a cleaning reagent for precision electronics and as a solvent in chromatography analysis. The electronics segment values low-residue evaporation and material compatibility, and the grade specification is tighter than industrial cleaning because a residue or a corrosive sulfur impurity can fail at the device level.
Adhesives, coatings and specialty formulations form the fourth arena. n-Hexane is used as a solvent in rubber cements, adhesive formulations, printing inks and coatings where rapid drying and non-polar solvency are required. It is also used in the leather, textile and furniture industries as a diluent or cleaning solvent. This segment is the most price-sensitive and the most exposed to substitution pressure from green solvents and VOC regulation, but it remains a volume outlet in cost-sensitive industrial applications.
Regulatory Profile: The 2026 SVHC Listing and the Documentation Obligations It Creates
n-Hexane’s regulatory identity changed materially in 2026. It is no longer simply a flammable hydrocarbon solvent with an aspiration hazard; it is now a REACH SVHC, and that status imposes obligations on every actor in the supply chain.
The CLP classification is the baseline. n-Hexane is Flam. Liq. 2 (H225) , Skin Irrit. 2 (H315) , STOT SE 3 (H336) , Asp. Tox. 1 (H304) , Aquatic Chronic 1 (H410) , and now STOT RE 1 (H372) under the revised harmonised classification taking effect from 26 May 2026. The STOT RE classification reflects the well-documented neurotoxicity of n-hexane, particularly the peripheral neuropathy associated with 2,5-hexanedione metabolite formation after repeated exposure.
The REACH SVHC listing is the operative compliance fact. n-Hexane was added to the Candidate List on 4 February 2026 under Article 57(f) , citing specific target organ toxicity after repeated exposure. The listing triggers Article 33 information obligations down the supply chain, requires the SVHC status to be declared in Section 15 (and often Section 3) of the SDS , and mandates SCIP notifications for articles containing the substance above 0.1% by weight. The listing does not impose an authorisation requirement under Annex XIV, and it does not ban n-hexane. But it converts the SDS into a compliance document that the buyer’s regulatory affairs team will scrutinise, and it means a supplier that cannot clearly declare SVHC status in its documentation is a supplier that will fail procurement audits.
Occupational exposure limits are jurisdiction-specific and became more consequential with the SVHC listing. ACGIH recommends a TLV-TWA of 20 ppm (72 mg/m³) for n-hexane, with a STEL of 1,500 mg/m³ in some references. NIOSH recommends a REL of 50 ppm (180 mg/m³) as a TWA, and OSHA’s PEL is 500 ppm (1,800 mg/m³). In Russia and the EAEU, n-hexane is regulated through sanitary-hygienic norms, with a TWA of 300 mg/m³ reported in Russian Federation OEL documentation. The practical consequence of the SVHC listing is that buyers will increasingly require the supplier’s SDS to state the applicable OEL and the engineering controls needed to stay below it, not merely to list the hazard.
Transport classification completes the picture. n-Hexane is UN 1208, Class 3, Packing Group II, a highly flammable liquid with a flash point of −22 °C. This classification governs packaging, labelling, segregation and transport documentation, and n-hexane cannot move through standard channels without dangerous-goods paperwork. For Russian and EAEU buyers, the shipment must carry UN 1208 documentation, and the packaging must be verifiable as compliant before release.
Global Supply Structure and Manufacturer Differentiation
Global n-hexane supply is moderately concentrated at the high-purity and food-grade end and more fragmented at the industrial-solvent end. The producer landscape includes Phillips 66, ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Shell, Bharat Petroleum, SK Chem, Sumitomo, Sinopec, CNPC, Junyuan Petroleum, Haishunde, Yufeng Chemical and a cohort of Chinese producers. Asia-Pacific is the largest market with approximately 45% share, followed by Europe at around 26%, and China is the largest single country market with about 32% share. The top three producers collectively hold approximately 15% of the market, indicating that the supply base is less concentrated than in specialty chemicals but more concentrated than in commodity solvents.
Differentiation operates on three axes that matter more to a food-safety officer or a pharmaceutical process chemist than the headline purity figure. The first is benzene and sulfur control. n-Hexane is produced by fractional distillation of petroleum fractions, and residual benzene and sulfur carry through to the final lot. In edible-oil extraction, benzene is a food-safety concern; in pharmaceutical crystallization, it complicates ICH Q3C compliance; in electronics cleaning, sulfur can corrode metallisation. A supplier that controls benzene and sulfur to low parts-per-million levels and documents them lot by lot can serve food, pharmaceutical and electronic accounts that an industrial-solvent supplier cannot. The second axis is SVHC documentation depth. Since February 2026, n-hexane is an SVHC, and a supplier’s SDS must declare that status clearly. A supplier that has updated its SDS, trained its commercial team, and can provide a written SVHC declaration and SCIP-support letter is a supplier that a buyer’s regulatory affairs team can qualify. The third axis is grade breadth and dangerous-goods logistics. n-Hexane moves in bulk, ISO tanks, drums and IBCs, and the UN 1208 Class 3, PG II classification means packaging and transport documentation are part of the product. A supplier that can offer extraction-grade, food-grade, pharmaceutical-grade and electronic-grade material from a consistent production and analytical platform, and arrange compliant dangerous-goods logistics to Russia and the EAEU with Russian-language SDS and UN 1208 documentation, reduces the buyer’s qualification and clearance burden.
Regional Demand Dynamics
n-Hexane demand is regionally asymmetric in a way that follows edible-oil production, pharmaceutical manufacturing and electronics assembly rather than the geography of crude oil refining.
Asia-Pacific is the largest and most dynamic region, with approximately 45% market share and the highest growth potential. China is the largest country market at about 32% share, supported by edible-oil extraction, pharmaceutical manufacturing and electronics cleaning. India is a significant import market, with vegetable-oil sector investment of around INR 18 billion reported, which increases n-hexane consumption in oil extraction. South Korea and Japan contribute through electronics cleaning and specialty chemical production. The region’s demand is volume-led and increasingly documentation-sensitive, as food and pharmaceutical exporters require SVHC-compliant supply chains.
North America and Europe are mature, specification-intensive markets. North American demand is anchored in edible-oil extraction, pharmaceutical manufacturing and industrial cleaning, with a strong regulatory-affairs culture that will scrutinise the SVHC declaration and OEL documentation. Europe’s demand is shaped by REACH compliance, the SVHC listing and a strong preference for food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade material; the European market accounts for approximately 26% share. Both regions are growing at low-to-mid single digits in volume, with value growth driven by documentation depth and high-purity grades rather than by commodity solvent volume.
Russia and the EAEU form an import-dependent contour with a documented and structurally significant trade flow. Analysis of the Russian hexane market describes it as stagnant with an import-substitution trend and a high dependence on imports , with China and Germany identified as the key source countries. Trade data record imports of n-hexane (CAS 110-54-3, purity 99.68%) from China into Russia under HSN code 2901100009, with the product described as a raw material for chemical production, an organic solvent and a solvent for oil extraction, not for medical use. Russian demand is concentrated in edible-oil extraction, chemical synthesis and industrial cleaning, and the SVHC listing makes the SDS and documentation package a condition of procurement, not an optional extra. XINCHEM positions its n-hexane supply around this requirement, providing Russian-language SDS with the SVHC declaration, lot-specific benzene and sulfur data, and UN 1208 dangerous-goods documentation, so that Russian and EAEU buyers can qualify imported material without reconstructing the compliance case internally.
Future Outlook and Strategic Imperatives
The n-Hexane market will grow at a moderate rate in volume—low-to-mid single digits depending on scope—but the quality of that growth is shifting decisively toward documentation-driven supply. The SVHC listing is not a temporary compliance exercise; it is a structural change that will separate suppliers who can support Article 33 and SCIP obligations from those who cannot.
Three structural forces will shape competition. First, SVHC compliance will become a qualification gate. The February 2026 listing means that every SDS must declare n-hexane’s SVHC status, and every buyer with a regulatory affairs function will require a written declaration and, where applicable, SCIP support. Suppliers that have updated their documentation and trained their teams will be preferred; suppliers that have not will be excluded from food, pharmaceutical and electronics supply chains. Second, grade-specific impurity control will remain the performance differentiator. Benzene and sulfur specifications separate food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade material from industrial-solvent cuts, and buyers will increasingly require lot-specific certificate-of-analysis data rather than a nominal purity figure. Third, dangerous-goods logistics and language support will matter more in import-dependent markets. A supplier that can provide a Russian-language SDS with the SVHC declaration, UN 1208 transport documentation and lot-specific analytical data will be better positioned in Russia and the EAEU than a spot trader that cannot support qualification.
For Russian and EAEU buyers, the strategic implication is that n-hexane procurement should be treated as an SVHC-and-documentation partnership rather than a price comparison. A lot that arrives without a clear SVHC declaration in the SDS does not simply cost the price of the drum; it can trigger an Article 33 notification failure, a SCIP reporting gap or a customer audit finding. A shipment that lacks UN 1208 documentation can be held at customs and disrupt an edible-oil extraction line or a pharmaceutical crystallization campaign. The lowest-risk supplier is the one that can match the grade to the application, document benzene and sulfur lot by lot, declare SVHC status clearly in Russian-language documentation, and support the buyer with compliant dangerous-goods logistics—the position XINCHEM occupies for n-hexane in the Russian and EAEU market.
Shanghai XinChem Co., Ltd. (XinChem)
As a world-leading supplier of organic chemicals, Shanghai XinChem Co., Ltd. (XinChem) offers n-hexane (CAS 110-54-3) in extraction-grade, food-grade, pharmaceutical-grade and electronic-grade specifications, serving edible-oil processors, pharmaceutical API and intermediate producers, electronics and precision cleaning customers, and adhesives and coatings manufacturers. Our n-hexane is supplied with controlled benzene and sulfur content, lot-specific certificate-of-analysis data, and the SVHC-compliant documentation—including Russian-language SDS with the Article 57(f) declaration and UN 1208 Class 3 transport documentation—that the post-February-2026 regulatory environment requires.
Technical and Quality Advantages
Grade-Specific Impurity Control: n-Hexane is supplied against extraction-grade, food-grade, pharmaceutical-grade and electronic-grade specification windows, with benzene, sulfur and evaporation residue controlled to the limits relevant to the intended use. Because benzene and sulfur carry through to food safety, API assay and electronic device performance, lot-level impurity data is the specification that determines whether the lot can enter a food-contact extraction process or a regulated crystallization campaign rather than only an industrial cleaning application.
SVHC-Compliant Documentation: Safety data sheets are available in Russian and English, with the SVHC status under Article 57(f) clearly declared in Section 15 , as required following the 4 February 2026 Candidate List inclusion. XinChem provides a written SVHC declaration and supports the buyer’s Article 33 and SCIP obligations, so that the lot can move through a regulated supply chain without a documentation gap.
Lot-Specific Certificate of Analysis: Each lot is supported by a certificate of analysis reporting assay (GC), benzene, sulfur and evaporation residue against the agreed specification. For food and pharmaceutical customers, this documentation is the basis for incoming qualification and for demonstrating conformance to food-safety and ICH Q3C residual-solvent requirements.
Russian-Language SDS and UN 1208 Documentation: Safety data sheets are available in Russian and English, with documentation covering the H225, H304, H315, H336, H372 and H410 classification, the applicable occupational exposure limits (including the Russian TWA of 300 mg/m³), and the UN 1208, Class 3, PG II transport classification. This package reduces clearance friction for a highly flammable liquid that cannot move without dangerous-goods documentation.
Packaging and Logistics Flexibility
n-Hexane is available in bulk and ISO tanks for large-volume extraction and industrial customers, in 200 L drums and IBCs for mid-scale pharmaceutical, food and cleaning operations, and in sealed containers for pilot, laboratory and electronic-grade qualification. For Russia and EAEU destinations, XinChem arranges Class 3 dangerous-goods logistics with UN 1208 documentation, Russian-language SDS with the SVHC declaration, and certificate-of-analysis support, reducing clearance friction for a product that is both highly flammable and now SVHC-regulated.
Application Support and Supply Reliability
XinChem’s technical team assists with grade selection for edible-oil extraction, pharmaceutical crystallization and purification, electronics cleaning and adhesives and coatings formulation, and with the benzene, sulfur and SVHC-documentation requirements that food, pharmaceutical and electronic qualification demands. Supply schedules accommodate both qualification orders and contract volumes, with stock and logistics planning aligned to the refining and trade-flow dynamics that shape n-hexane availability.
Why Choose XinChem
Expertise: Deep experience in non-polar hydrocarbon solvents and extraction-grade alkanes, with application knowledge spanning edible-oil processing, pharmaceutical purification, electronics cleaning and industrial formulation.
Consistency: Control of benzene, sulfur and evaporation residue against grade-specific specifications—the parameters that determine whether n-hexane performs in a food-contact extraction or a regulated API process, or becomes an assay and compliance problem.
Compliance Readiness: Documentation structured around the February 2026 SVHC listing under Article 57(f) , Article 33 and SCIP obligations, ICH Q3C residual-solvent logic, Russian OEL requirements and UN 1208 Class 3 transport rules, with Russian-language SDS and written SVHC declaration support.
Responsiveness: Direct technical and commercial access, with order structures from qualification volumes to bulk and contract supply.
Contact us now to discuss your n-hexane requirements and request a specification sheet or qualification sample.
Website: www.xinchem.com
Email: sales1@xinchem.com
WhatsApp: +86 18049800532
Post time: Nov-08-2026