Abstract
US demand to grow 3.6% annually through 2013
Demand for specialty gases in the US is forecast to expand 3.6 percent per
annum through 2013 to $3.4 billion. High purity atmospheric gases and noble
gases will lead demand growth, which will be driven primarily by gains in
manufacturing and health care. Additionally, growth will be driven by new or
emerging applications in areas such as food & beverage processing and
packaging, medical research and applications, analytical instrumentation, and
others. The electronics industry, an important specialty gas market, will
remain so, though its growth prospects have been severely reduced. High purity
atmospheric gases, noble gases and carbon gases will continue to dominate and
account for two thirds of specialty gas demand in 2013.
Health care applications will grow most rapidly
The health care industry is a large user of specialty gases. Atmospheric
gases, mostly oxygen, will comprise nearly half of this market in 2013. Oxygen
for institutional and home respiratory therapies will lead growth, though this
will be limited by increased use of portable generators or concentrators.
Other important medical applications for specialty gases include
sterilization, analytical and laboratory uses, operation of imaging equipment
and anaesthesia. Aside from oxygen, the key gases used by the medical
community include helium, nitrous oxide, ethylene oxide and others. The aging
population will fuel moderate growth in institutional specialty gas demand,
more rapid growth in home health therapies.
Manufacturing market to remain dominant
Manufacturing activity (excluding electronics) in the US will continue to
dominate the market for specialty gases and account for 44 percent of demand
in 2013. The chemicals industry is the largest manufacturing market for
specialty gases. Lighting and laser markets for specialty gases will continue
to grow, but will be constrained by the emergence of LEDs and diode lasers.
Niche applications for specialty gases are numerous across the entire
manufacturing spectrum and new applications and technologies will contribute
to underlying demand in the future.
Photovoltaics to support a sagging electronics market
The electronics industry in the US is, and will remain, a significant market
for specialty gases. However, its importance as a growth market for specialty
gases has faded, primarily as the result of outsourced production to other
nations, mainly in the Asia/Pacific rim. The US electronics industry' s output
has flattened or declined in recent years, a trend that will result in
stagnant or weakening specialty gas demand, and market increases in this area
will be the result of price escalation rather than higher volume. One bright
spot in this sector is the potential increase in the production of products
and materials used for photovoltaic applications and plasma display panels,
which will help soften market declines to the sector.
Study coverage
These and other key findings are detailed in Specialty Gases, a new Freedonia
industry study, presents historical supply and demand data (1998, 2003 and
2008) as well as forecasts for 2013 and 2018 by type, application and
consuming sector. In addition, the study considers key market environment
factors, evaluates company market share data and profiles major industry
competitors.
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