Demand for Specialty Chemicals Market Driven by Rapid Commercialization and Industrialization

Chemicals are available in different forms such as liquids, solids, plasma, or gases. All these forms are interchangeable by application of pressure or temperature. Chemical reactions are used to convert one chemical substance into another. Chemicals are used in each and every industry and economic sectors across the globe such as agriculture and consumer, retail, oil and gas, and energy. The type of chemicals that provide different effects after they are added to another chemical or substances are called as effect chemicals or specialty chemicals.

Diverse Applications to Drive the Global Market of Specialty Chemicals

Many industrial sectors such as manufacturing, food, textile industries, agriculture, cosmetics, aerospace, and automobile are the main users of specialty chemicals Market. In manufacturing sector, construction chemicals, flavors and fragrances, specialty polymers, electronic chemicals, and industrial and institutional cleaners are some of the mainly used specialty chemicals. Another important application of specialty chemicals is seem in the water treatment industry. Innovation of highly sophisticated technology like ion-exchange for the purpose of water treatment makes use of specialty chemicals, which is further driving the demand for specialty chemicals in the global market.

On the other hand, the global specialty chemicals industry will experience a slow down due to rigid government regulations over use of certain specialty chemicals in food processing and other manufacturing industries. 

Specialty chemicals for several other purposes such as elastomers, cosmetic additives, surfactants (emulsifiers, foaming agents and dispersants), agri-chemicals (pesticides such as insecticides, herbicides and fungicides), construction chemicals, adhesives (substance applied at the surfaces of materials binding them together to resist separation), cleaning materials, polymers, textile auxiliaries, flavors, industrial gases, food additives (food preservatives such as salt, sugar, vinegar and sulfur dioxide), fragrances, and lubricants.

Economies of China and India to Boost the Demand of Asia Pacific Specialty Chemicals Market

The global market of specialty chemicals has been geographically segmented into four broad regions which are Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. As per the statistics, Asia Pacific dominates the global specialty chemicals market which is closely followed by North America and Europe. In Asia Pacific, countries such as China and India are boosting the demand of the specialty market owing to the rising industrial activities. Japan and China are anticipated to lead the Asia Pacific market in the forecast period. In addition, many countries of Middle East, Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe are also anticipating a substantial growth in the demand for specialty chemicals in the forecast period owing to the developing industries in these regions.

Increasing disposable income in the developing economies will speed up the demand for specialty chemicals in the forecast period. According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, the annual per capita disposal income of urban households was recorded at US$2271.0 in 2008, which had further increased to US$3408.5 in 2012. In India, the overall average household income was US$1164.8 billion in 2011 which increased to US$1308.8 billion in 2012. Countries like Brazil and India are going through rapid industrialization in the field of agriculture, food, cosmetics, and many other manufacturing sectors. This transformation is largely responsible for the increasing demand for the specialty chemicals in the coming future.

Highly Fragmented Specialty Chemicals Market 

The specialty chemicals market is extremely fragmented market due to the numerous small and large size companies operating in it globally. The prominent players of the specialty chemicals are Albemarle Corporation, Akzo Nobel N.V., Evonik Industries AG, Cytec Industries Inc., Ferro Corporation, BASF SE, Chemtura Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, and Clariant International Ltd among others.