Clean growth: Ceresana publishes second market report on surfactants

10-Apr-2015 - Germany

surfactants facilitate the removal of dirt and enable to finely mix water and oil. These surface active chemical substances are used in every household but also serve for numerous industrial applications. "In 2014, a worldwide turnover of 33.2 billion US$ was achieved with surfactants" says Oliver Kutsch, manager of the market research institute Ceresana. "We expect a further growth in sales of approx. 2.5% per year so that more than 40 billion US$ are reached in 2022."

Growth in the segment paints and plastics

Ceresana already analyzed the world market for surfactants for the second time. Surfactants are mainly used to improve the properties of aqueous formulations. The best-known application are cleaners and detergents. In 2014, around 56% of total demand accounted for this segment. Also, surfactants are used for example in cosmetics and textiles. They are also included in pesticides, antistatic agents, lubricants, printing ink and many other products. For the application area paints and plastics, Ceresana forecasts the highest growth in demand: 2.6% per year until 2022.

Anionic vs. non-ionic

Depending on charge and polarity, a difference is made between anionic, cationic, non-ionic and other surfactants. The current most significant type are anionic surfactants: the so called linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) are mainly used for detergents and have a global market share of 53%. However, the strongest growth is recorded by non-ionic surfactants. With this type, fatty alcohol ethoxylates (FAEO) dominate. They can be obtained from palm kernel oil or coconut oil and are considered to be more environmentally friendly alternatives to LAS.

Other countries, other surfactants

With a world market share of more than 36%, the Asia-Pacific region has the highest demand for surfactants. The product types reveal significant regional differences: Currently, Asia reaches a market share of more than 43% with alkyl benzene sulfonate. On the other hand, consumers in Western Europe and North America dominate the market for alkylsulfates (FAS), alkyl ether sulfates (FAES) and alcohol ethoxy sulfates (AES) with a share of around 62%.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/152380/clean-growth-ceresana-publishes-second-market-report-on-surfactants.html