Ceresana updates report on
the global solvent market
The market research firm Ceresana forecasts the global solvent market to earn
revenues of about US$33 billion in
2019. The firm highlights the dynamic
economic development in emerging
countries like China, India, Brazil and
Russia, which will continue to boost the
demand for solvents. The market research institute expects worldwide solvent consumption to increase at an
average annual rate of 2.5 percent over
the next years. Accordingly, the growth
rate seen during past eight years will be
surpassed.
The most frequently used solvents are
alcohols, such as ethanol, n-butanol, isopropanol and methanol. About 6. 4 million tons of alcohol-based solvents were
utilized worldwide in 2011. Demand for
ethanol and ethers is projected to rise at
an above-average growth rate of more
than three percent per year between 2011
and 2019. Demand for halogenated solvents is especially declining in Western Europe and North America. Also aromatics
and pure hydrocarbons will continue their
downward trend.
The report also analyzes how the use
of solvents will develop in individual markets. Most important buyers include producers of paints and coatings. They are
followed by a considerable distance by
printing ink manufacturers. The printing
ink industry accounted for somewhat
more than eight percent of global solvent
demand in 2011. The pharmaceutical industry came in third place, followed by
cosmetics and adhesives. Furthermore,
solvents are used in a broad variety of
other industrial applications, for example
in chemical manufacturing processes,
cooling circuits, chemical dry-cleaning,
and as de-icing agents.
The adhesive industry is expected to
record the strongest growth in solvent use.
Besides private consumption, adhesives
are increasingly used in industrial applications. They allow for easy, safe and flex-
ible connections, which are usually inexpensive and lightweight.
With a roughly 39 percent share of
global consumption, Asia-Pacific is the
largest solvent outlet, followed by North
America and Western Europe. Asian countries will further increase their shares in
the global solvent market mainly at the
expense of saturated industrial countries.
Many emerging and developing countries
benefit from an increasing solvent demand
above all in the paint, coating and adhesive industries.
For example, solvent demand in the
paint and coatings industry is predicted
to increase by 2.9 percent per year until
2019. Mainly emerging and developing
countries will boost this trend. Rising
prosperity in these countries will result
in an increasing per capita consumption
of paints.
The market for solvents is considerably influenced by legal regulations and
the growing environmental awareness of
end-consumers the report says. Changes
targeted at reducing the environmental
impact of solvents will focus on both
production methods and further substitutions of specific solvent types. The
manufacture of solvents from renewable
resources reduces the dependence on petroleum and improves the CO2 balance.
Western Europe and North America
will continue to pursue their goal of reducing emissions of VOCs. The shifting
from solvent-based paints to water-based
or other solvent-free paints is negatively
impacting the solvent demand in these regions. In the other regions, environmental
protection is far less important. However,
this is going to change in the long-term.
Visit www.ceresana.com/en.
Research and Markets releases
report, Global Paints &
Coatings Market 2012
The report provides an analysis of the
global paint and coatings market. It also
discusses major trends, growth drivers
and potential markets for paint and
coatings market. The report presents the
competitive structure of the industry
and profiles major players in the market
with a discussion of their key business
strategies.
The industrial coatings market is beginning to recover from the recent economic downturn. The strengthening
global economy has led to an increase in
new buildings and maintenance in both
the private and public sector. The global
paint and coatings market has reached the
pre-recession level in 2010.
The paint and coatings industry is
dominated by the architectural coatings
segment; the industrial coatings segment also has significant share in the
market. The global coating industry has
shifted to the Asia Pacific region where
China is the largest consumer of coating additives. The country accounted
for more than half of the Asia’s market
share in 2010.
The paints and coatings industry depends heavily on its end-use markets.
The key industrial sectors catered are
construction, steel, marine, automotive
and wooden furniture. Emerging markets are showing immense potential for
the growth of both architectural coatings and industrial coatings. The growing demand for green-based chemicals,
such as zero volatile organic component
(VOC) coatings, is driving the replacement of solvent-based products with
water-based products.
Paint makers are focusing on cutting
edge technological innovation to satisfy
both consumers and regulatory demands. The industry is dealing with several issues, a major one of them is the
unprecedented escalation in the price of
oil, natural gas and raw materials, which
is having a significant impact on the marine coating industry. CW
