Adsorbents Market Overview
A major trend being witnessed in the global adsorbents market is increased investments by the market players to boost their production capacity for adsorbents. Owing to the large-scale application of adsorption materials in a wide range of industries, players engaged in the development of these materials are working toward expanding their production capacity to meet the growing product demand. These fresh investments are expected to be mainly directed at the upgradation of the existing capacity and the establishment of new facilities.
In the oil and gas industry, adsorption materials are used for removing contaminants from oil and gas streams. The removal of contaminants helps improve the product value and protect the oil and gas equipment from any damage. Thus, the revival in the oil and gas industry is expected to boost the growth of the adsorbents market in the near future.
Based on type, the adsorbents market has been categorized into activated carbon, molecular sieve, activated alumina, clay, and silica gel. Historically, molecular sieves held a significant share in the market. Molecular sieves have small pores of uniform size, which help them to restrict large molecules while simultaneously allowing smaller molecules to pass through. Owing to these properties, molecular sieves are widely used in air separation and drying applications. Besides, they are used in the petrochemical industry for the removal of contaminants such as water and sulfur. Thus, due to their large-scale usage, molecular sieves are expected to continue witnessing increased demand globally.
Adsorption materials find application in chemical processing, gas refining, petroleum refining, air separation and drying, water treatment, and packaging. Of these application areas, petroleum refining accounted for a significant share in the adsorbents market during the historical period. In petroleum refining, adsorption materials are used in the alkylation feed dehydration process to purify the feedstock. Owing to the large-scale utilization of adsorption materials in petroleum refining, the market is expected to witness considerable growth in the coming years.
Based on region, the market has been categorized into Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. During the forecast period, the adsorbents market in North America is expected to witness significant growth. This can be mainly attributed to the commercial exploitation of shale gas in North America and the subsequent demand generated for adsorption materials for petroleum gas refining.
Adsorbents Market Dynamics
Drivers
The major factor driving the adsorbents market growth is the growing demand for oil and gas across the world. Due to the increasing energy demand worldwide, a large number of oil and gas companies are expanding their refining capacities. Countries such as India and China continue to boost their domestic capacity for crude oil refining. Also, major exploration and production companies in North America are shifting their focus toward the development of unconventional oil and gas reserves, including shale oil, shale gas, tight oil, tight gas, and coal bed methane. All these factors are expected to boost the growth of the adsorbents industry in the near future.
Restraint
The major restraint identified in the adsorbents market is the fluctuation in oil prices, globally. Over the last few years, the prices of oil have declined sharply, thereby eroding the profitability of associated companies. Moreover, the political uncertainty in major oil-producing countries, such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, is adding to the woes of oil and gas companies, which are now wary of inducing fresh capital investments to expand their production capacity. Thus, fluctuations in oil prices resulting in delay in expansion plans continue to hinder the growth of the market.
Opportunity
Growth in the chemical processing industry across various countries, particularly in emerging nations such as China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia, has resulted in lucrative opportunities for the players in the adsorbents market. Major chemical-producing companies are expanding their production base in these countries in a bid to meet the domestic demand for chemicals. This increase in chemical production is expected to boost the demand for adsorption materials for the removal of impurities from the produced chemicals.
Adsorbents Market Competitive Landscape
Some of the major players operating in the global adsorbents market are BASF SE, Clariant Ltd., W. R. Grace & Company, Cabot Corporation, Zeochem AG, UOP LLC, Axens Group, Arkema srl, and Zeolyst International.
The study provides the historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
