ANTISTATIC AGENTS MARKET ANALYSIS

Antistatic agents prevent or reduce accumulation of static electricity on surfaces. Fatty acid esters, quaternary ammonium compounds, alkylsulfonates, ethoxylated amines, and alkylphosphates are some of the widely used antistatic agents. Antistatic agent eliminates problems such as dust pick up, and electrical discharge.

Global antistatic agents market was valued at US$ 497.30 Million in 2021 in terms of revenue, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.59% during the forecast period (2022 to 2030).

Drivers

Growing industrial packaging industry is expected to boost demand for antistatic agents over the forecast period. Antistatic agent is widely used in packaging to prevent static build-up that may damage goods such as electronic components. Moreover, dust and other fine particles are not drawn to the packaging surface as antistatic agents dissipate charge from the surface. According to a Coherent Market Insights’ study, industrial packaging market is projected to reach US$ 97.2 billion by 2025 and to exhibit a CAGR of 6.1% over the forecast period (2022-2030). Therefore, significant growth in the industrial packaging market is expected to boost growth of the antistatic agents market.

New antistatic coatings available in the market are used in windows, specialty papers, instrument housings, photographic films, construction and building materials, release coatings, and packaging materials such as trays. Increasing demand for antistatic coatings for various applications is expected to contribute to significant growth of the market. According to the British Coating Federation, the paints and coating industry in the U.K. was valued at US$ 2.4 billion in 2020.

Figure 1. Global Antistatic Agents Market Value Share (%), By Region, 2021

Market Restraints

Regulations on antistatic agents, especially for those used in food packaging materials are expected to hinder growth of the global antistatic agents market. For instance, Section 178.3130 of the Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits the use of antistatic agent in food packaging material. For instance, alpha-(carboxymethyl)-omega-(tetradecyloxy)polyoxyethylene) can only be used as antistatic agent at levels less than 0.2 pct and not more than 0.001 inch thickness in polyolefin film as per the U.S. FDA regulation.

 Market Trends

Antistatic agents are widely used in the automotive industry for manufacturing interior and exterior body parts of automobiles. These agents are used to eliminate the static charge in plastic components that are used in fuel systems, electrical and electronic components, dashboards, seat belts, and engines of automobiles. In the textiles industry, antistatic agents are used to removing the static charge in textiles by enhancing their antistatic properties. In the textiles industry, fabrics are manufactured by high-speed spinning and weaving processes that lead to the accumulation of static charge over their surfaces. This static charge disturbs the manufacturing line and may also result in extreme electric shocks. It may also cause several problems such as increasing the clinging tendency of fabrics or creating a spark that may cause a fire.

Hence, antistatic agents are used during the manufacturing of fabrics to avoid such hazards and delays in the manufacturing processes by adding them to the bulk or spraying them over the surface of fabrics. In addition, these agents are used to reduce the charges on the surface of the polymers and increase the conductivity of the product. Long-chain aliphatic amines, esters of phosphoric acid, quaternary ammonium salts, alkylphenol, polyethylene glycol, ethoxylated amines, and glycerol esters are the various types of anti-static agents available in the market. Physical properties, such as low toxic, and high ionic strength, are expected to benefit the overall anti-static agent’s industry demand over the forecast period. This agent improves mold release, processability, and improves external & internal lubrication. These agents serve numerous end-use industries such as industrial packaging, electronics, coatings, military jet fuels, and electronics.

Figure 2. Global Antistatic Agents Market Value Share (%), By End-use Industry, 2021

Recent Developments

• In June 2020, Clariant Plastics & Coatings Healthcare Polymer Solutions, a recognized global provider of sustainable solutionsfor the plastics industry recently launched static-reducing functional plastic compounds which, when used in drug delivery devices, enable increased dose reliability. The resins are part of the wider ‘medical grade’ MEVOPUR line of color and additive concentrates and ready-to-use polymer compounds.
• In December 2021, Alfa Chemistry, a prominent player in the antistatic agent market worldwide, recently disclosed to provide a wide range of halide quaternary ammonium salts that is just one kind of its varied offering of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), including quaternary phosphonium compounds, quaternary ammonium hydroxide, polyquaternium, and acid radical quaternary ammonium salts.

Competitive Section

Major players operating in the global antistatic agents market include, Akzo Nobel N.V., 3M Company, BASF SE, Ampacet Corporation, DowDuPont Inc., Arkema Group, Clariant AG, Croda International plc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc., and Solvay S.A.