Clean Growth: Ceresana Publishes Second Market Report on Surfactants

Konstanz, Germany, June 30, 2015 --(PR.com)-- 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%.

The Study in Brief:

Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the global market for surfactants with forecasts up to 2022: revenues development as well as production and demand volumes are analyzed. These figures are given for anionic, cationic, non-ionic and other surfactants. Also, individual product subgroups are examined.

Chapter 2 examines the market for surfactants in the 31 major countries in more detail: Data on demand, revenues, production, import, and export is provided. Demand for surfactants of the individual applications is described in detail.

In Chapter 3, the application areas of surfactants for the regions Western and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Asia-Pacific, The Middle East and Africa are examined. Data on the development of demand are analyzed for the applications cleaners and detergents, industrial cleaners, body care and cosmetics, textiles and leather, paints and plastics and other applications.

In Chapter 4, demand for individual types of surfactants is analyzed. In particular anionic, cationic, non-ionic and other surfactants are considered.

Also, a further subdivision of the group anionic surfactants into alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS), alkylsulfates, alkyl ether sulfates/ alcohol ethoxy sulfates (FAS/ FAES/ AES) and other anionic surfactants is made. The segment non-ionic surfactants is split by fatty alcohol ethoxylates (FAEO), other ethoxylates and other non-ionic surfactants (for example pure fatty alcohols, alkyl polyglycosides).

Chapter 5 provides profiles of the largest producers of surfactants, clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, and profile summary. In-depth profiles of 80 producers are given, including Ecover Belgium N.V., Solvay SA, ALTANA AG, Bayer AG, Lanxess AG, PCC SE, ERCA SPA, Campi y Jové S.A., General Electric Company (GE), Saraya Co. Ltd., and KLK OLEO.

About Ceresana
Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector and operates branch offices in Constance, Vienna and Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, it has been supplying several thousand customers from 55 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 90 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts in the following markets: Chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and construction materials.