Abstract
US demand to grow 5.1% annually through 2011
Specialty gas demand in the US is projected to grow 5.1 percent per year to
$3.5 billion in 2011. Advances will be driven by healthy gains in specialty
process gases for the electronics industry, especially improved precursor
gases used in the production of semiconductors. Additional growth
opportunities include oxygen and other therapeutic gases in healthcare
applications and the noble gases xenon and krypton, which will see strong
gains in a variety of markets, notably healthcare and insulation.
Electronics to be most rapidly growing market
Manufacturing currently represents the largest market for specialty gases,
with the electronics industry a close second. While growth in the large
chemical processing market will be below average, rising demand in lighting
applications will spur gains, particularly for noble gases used in energy
efficient lamps. The laser market will benefit as gas lasers continue to
compete with diode lasers. Electronics will be the fastest growing market for
specialty gases through 2011 and will overtake manufacturing to become the
largest single market for specialty gases at that time. Demand will be driven
by increasingly stringent manufacturing and purity requirements for
semiconductors. Opportunities will also arise in fiber optic and display
applications.
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