US chemical catalyst demand to reach $1.2 billion in 2009
US demand for chemical catalysts will expand 3.1 percent annually to $1.2 billion in 2009. Growth will be relatively broad-based with most markets achiev- ing moderate gains, a reflection of the mature nature of the chemical industry as a whole.
The largest chemical catalyst market will con- tinue to be fine chemicals, led by pharmaceuticals and pesticides. Growing use of chiral catalysts in fine chemicals will help drive growth as companies seek to market single enanti- omer products that offer improved performance and/or help extend profit- able franchises. The pace of pharmaceutical catalyst demand growth will ease as increased FDA scrutiny slows the pace of new drug approvals, and a tougher pricing environment limits price gains.
Pesticide catalyst demand will be weak due to the mature nature of the market, though a shift in product mix toward higher- priced chiral catalysts will help offset sluggish volume growth.
Alcohols market to lead gains
Alcohols will offer the fastest growth as the ethanol industry continues to expand rapidly to meet the renewable fuel require- ment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, offsetting the impact of high natural gas prices on methanol produc- tion. Petrochemicals will also experience above average growth due to continued strong demand for olefin-based materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and ethyl- ene glycol-based polyes- ters. In contrast, inorganic chemical catalyst demand will restrain overall growth, suffering an outright decline due to the impact of high natural gas prices on ammonia production.
Organic synthesis catalysts to stay largest type
From the perspective of catalyst types, organic synthesis catalysts will continue to account for the majority of catalyst de- mand, reflecting their heavy use in both basic organic chemical and fine chemical processes. Oxidation and hydrogena- tion catalysts will see slow to moderate growth, while be flat as increased hydrogen demand offsets weakness in ammonia and methanol. Other catalyst types such as polymer hydrolysis catalysts used in fuel ethanol production will experience the fastest growth.
Enzymes, zeolites to be fastest growing materials
Together, base metals and precious metals will continue to be the domi-nant catalyst materials in value terms, accounting for over half of catalyst de-mand. The strongest growth, however, will be experienced by enzyme biocatalysts as they benefit from increased ethanol production. Zeolites will also experience above average growth as these versatile materials find new uses in basic organic chemical processes.
Study coverage
Details on these and other key findings are available in Chemical Catalysts, the new Freedonia industry study, which provides historical demand data (1994, 1999, 2004) plus forecasts to 2009 and 2014 by chemical catalyst market, type and material. This study also considers market environ- ment indicators, evaluates company market share and profiles 31 major players in the US industry.
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