Catalyst Carriers Market By Type (Ceramics, Activated Carbon, Zeolites), By Form (Spheres, Extrudate, Powder, Honeycomb), By Surface Area (Low (0-10 m2/g), Intermediate (10 - 120 m2/g), High (>120 m2/g)), By Pore Volume - Global Market Insights 2021 to 2031

Catalyst Carriers Market Outlook

Catalyst carriers offer huge potential in the catalyst market with effective and reliable applications for end-use industries such as pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals. Demand for catalysts is rising from chemical industries across the globe. Broadened application offerings along with emergence of innovations and advancements in providing remarkable material and structure for catalyst supports are set to enhance growth potential of the market. Increasing demand from petrochemical and oil & gas for refined petroleum-based products marks an evident role for catalyst carriers globally.

In a recently published report of Fact.MR, insights regarding key factors fueling market growth have been offered for the next ten years. The report tracks trends in 20+ high-growth countries, with the regions of Asia, North America, and Europe leading the way. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has also been detailed in the report, with exhaustive insights into what the years ahead will offer.

Historical Trends Vs Future Projections

Over the past half-decade, catalyst carriers have portrayed absolute growth at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2016 to 2020. Growth has been complemented by higher demand from diverse applications, including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, oil & gas, chemicals, agrochemicals, and automotive.

The COVID-19 outbreak partially contracted demand for catalyst carriers in the second and third quarters of FY2020, with deduction occurring at 1.08% by 2020-end. Decline in production of catalysts in various industries led to a domino effect on catalyst carrier requisites across regions. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, overall demand witnessed a hike of 0.6%.

Gathering all finding for the catalyst carriers market over the forecast period, demand is projected to grow in a steady phase in the short term (2021-2025), while in the medium term, it is expected to record moderate growth. Overall the market is projected to expand at a CAGR close to 4% through 2031.

Why Does the Chemical Industry Play a Crucial Role in Driving Demand for Catalyst Carriers?

The chemical industry is poised to grow steadily during forecast period, and has instigated the adoption of catalyst carriers with dependency of catalysts used during chemical reactions. These catalysts increase the rate of chemical reactions by optimising and reducing the activation energy during catalytic reaction processes. Catalyst carriers are used as catalyst supports, and therefore, have notable importance during the course of chemical reactions and synthesis.

The demand curve for catalyst carriers in chemical application has heightened with increased versatility and carrier structure properties. For instance, some players in the market offer catalyst carriers based on specific requirements from end-use industries regarding carrier porosity and surface.

A similar trend is expected to be experienced over the medium-term forecast period, as overall chemical application for catalyst carriers is estimated to increase. With innovation and research in catalyst support structure, catalyst carriers will witness robust growth with wide application offerings during the forecast period.

How Does Carrier Material Bifurcation Drive Demand?

Catalyst carriers have been structured based on specific use cases and offered to end-use industries for ongoing catalytic reactions. These carrier materials are segmented on porosity, flow ability for reactants, surface area, and form. Based on the type of carrier material, catalyst carriers are available in ceramics, activated carbon, zeolite, and others.

In addition, ceramic catalyst carriers are further bifurcated in alumina, titania, magnesia, silicon carbide, silica and others. These broad bifurcations offered by carriers increase growth potential and continue to resonate effectively over numerous industrial applications.

Country-wise Analysis

Why Does Germany Carry Huge Scope for Catalyst Carrier Production?

Over the years, catalyst carrier production in Europe, especially in Germany, has substantially increased with expanded production facilities, research laboratories, and ease of local raw material sourcing. Governments have increased spending on chemical synthesis and GVA with heightening index of industrial. Presence of important market players drives growth demand in Germany, with timely value addition and advancements. Europe has occupied a significant market share in the production of catalyst carriers (23% of global share for production of ceramics) due to high availability of resources for production.

Furthermore, escalating end-user industry demand is inducing significant competition in Germany.

Why are GCC Countries Poised to Increase Consumption of Catalyst Carriers?

GCC countries such as the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc., are hubs for oil & gas and petrochemical production. In addition, GCC continues portray enormous demand for petroleum refining, which opens the door for catalysts with widened application offerings. Catalyst carriers have direct application for the refinement of oil, petrol, etc., by catalyst induction in these industries.

Category-wise Insights

What are the Key Challenges Faced by Catalyst Carrier Manufacturers?

Over the past decade, catalyst carrier manufacturers have seen sparse suppliers for their raw material demand. This has prominently exposed catalyst carrier manufacturers to procurement risks associated in the market, which was an eye opener in 2020 when global trade was muffled.

For market leaders, catalyst carriers have remained a small contributor to their revenue, and thus, no specific expansion strategies are been adopted for catalyst carriers reported by these companies.

Why Does Surface Area and Pore Volume Play a Crucial Role in Driving Demand for Catalyst Carriers?

Catalyst carrier offerings are based on requirements from end-use industry, and similarly go into application use cases related carrier material and composition.

Their notable characteristics of pore volume and surface area are driving the market, and act as deciding factors for the selection of carriers to suit appropriate applications. Large surface area offers more space for catalysts to react with other reactants and increases the rate of reaction. Intermediate and low surface area have unique importance during catalytic reactions. Porosity and pore volume are driving factors for reactants and agents to flow during chemical reactions. Both, pore volume and surface area carriers are of significance and continue to add value to the growth of the catalyst carriers market.

Innovations in manufacturing and producing well-defined carrier structure with improved porosity and surface area have been significantly driving overall demand. This has indeed proven to be a remarkable strategy adopted by market players operating globally. However, significant demand-supply gap is being observed in some regions based on infrastructure and research spending of countries, which will pave the way for emerging players with optimized and advanced facilities to venture into catalyst carrier production.

Report Scope

Key Market Segments Covered

• By Type

  • Ceramic
    • Alumina
    •  Titania
    •  Magnesia
    •  Silicon Carbide
    •  Silica
    •  Others
  • Activated Carbon
  • Zeolite
  • Others

• By Form

  • Sphere
  • Extrudate
  • Powder
  • Honeycomb
  • Others

• By Surface Area

  • Low (0-10 m2/g)
  • Intermediate (10 - 120 m2/g)
  • High (>120 m2/g)

• By Pore Volume

  • 0-0.3 cm3/g
  • 0.3-0.7 cm3/g
  • >0.7 cm3/g

• By End-use Industry

  • Chemicals
  • Petrochemicals
  • Oil & Gas
  • Automotive
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Agrochemicals      
  • Others

• Region

  • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • East Asia
  • South Asia & Oceania
  • Middle East & Africa