Global Catalyst Demand to Reach $16.3 Billion in 2012

World catalyst demand will expand at a 6.0 percent annual pace to $16.3 billion in 2012, with volume demand growing at a 2.0 percent annual pace to 5.3 million metric tons.  Growth will be strong across all market segments as high energy prices help support increased catalyst demand as a means of improving productivity.  Upward pressure on average prices will also continue due to a combination of underlying support from strong demand, and a shifting product mix toward higher cost/more efficient products. These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in World Catalysts, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

Polymerization catalysts will experience the fastest growth through 2012, due in part to the rapid expansion in polymer capacity in the Africa/Mideast and Asia/Pacific regions.  Additionally, companies are often opting to use newer, more active (and more expensive) single-site polymer catalysts in place of traditional alternatives, which will drive value gains.

Catalyst demand in the petroleum refining industry will also be quite strong due to healthy volume growth in hydroprocessing catalysts, and higher refined product output in the Africa/Mideast and Asia/Pacific regions.  Global efforts to reduce air pollution by lowering sulfur content in motor vehicle fuels will continue to boost catalyst loadings, as will the ongoing shift toward heavier grades of crude oil, and the development of unconventional petroleum resources such as Canada’s tar sands.  In the Africa/Mideast and Asia/Pacific regions, increasing motor fuel demand due to the rapid rise of the middle class and the rapid expansion of the motor vehicle fleet will lead to strong growth in new refinery construction and expanded refined product output.

The chemical industry will experience the slowest growth in catalyst demand going forward, though it will remain quite healthy.  In particular, organic synthesis catalyst demand will be impacted in the near term by a dearth of new products in the pharmaceutical industry.  However, this will be offset somewhat by the expansion of the petrochemical industry in Eastern Europe (especially in Russia), and the Africa/Mideast and Asia/Pacific regions.  Additionally, the recovery of the global fertilizer industry and the development of new gas-,coal-, and biomass-to-liquids facilities will help drive strong synthesis gas catalyst demand, particularly over the longer term.

The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles.