Global Chlorine Market - Insights
Chlorine derivatives are used for various applications such as disinfection bleaching, organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals, and metal separation. Chlorine is an efficient disinfectant and is widely used for water treatment processes. Growing residential sector and industrial water treatment industry is expected to propel demand for chlorine in water treatment.
The global chlorine market is expected to exhibit significant growth over the forecast period, owing to increasing demand for chlorine from end-use industry. Caustic soda from chlorine industry is used for pulping wood chips and compounds of chlorine are used to bleach wood and paper pulp in paper production process. Therefore, growing paper industry is also expected to fuel growth of the chlorine market. According to Confederation of European Paper Industries, pulp and paper industry turnover in Europe was over US$ 94 million in 2016, with 0.4% increase from 2015.
However, increasing environmental awareness is a major factor restraining growth of the chlorine market. According to Euro Chlor, in 2015, emissions for all mercury cells across Western Europe reached 0.68 grams per ton of chlorine capacity, which was slightly higher than the all-time low of 0.74 grams per ton of chlorine capacity in 2014. From October 2007, all EU chlor-alkali plants whether membrane, mercury or diaphragm require an operating permit under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive. However, increasing adaption of membrane technology that has less impact on the environment is expected to boost the market growth.
The global chlorine market was valued at US$ 13,948.7 million in 2017 and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.0% in terms of revenue, over the forecast period (2018 – 2025), to reach US$ 20,493.0 million by 2025.
Figure 1. Global Chlorine Market Share, By End-use Industry, 2017
Source: Coherent Market Insights, 2017-18
Among end-use industry, chemical segment accounted for the highest market share of 53.7% in 2017 and it is expected to increase during the forecast period. Chlorine is used in plastic and chemical synthesis. For instance, titanium tetrachloride — an inorganic chemical — is further processed to create titanium dioxide — which is used primarily as a filler in pulp and paper manufacturing and as a pigment in paint and plastics manufacturing. Various inorganic chlorides are used in agriculture. For instance, phosphorus and sulfur chlorides are used as an intermediate for agrochemicals such as pesticides and herbicides. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), agrochemical sector in India was valued at US$ 2.2 billion in 2017 and it is expected to reach US$ 7.5 billion by 2019, witnessing a CAGR of 13.18% during the forecast period (2013-2019).
North America accounted for the third largest market share in the global chlorine market in 2017. This is owing to increasing demand for chlorine from end-use industries such as pharmaceutical, chemical, and paper and pulp. Chlorine is widely used by pharmaceutical industry for drug synthesis. According to American Chemistry Council, in 2012, chlorine and its derivatives were used in manufacturing widely sold 100 pharmaceuticals and chlorine was used for manufacturing at least 88% of the prescription pharmaceuticals sold in the U.S. and Canada in 2016. Therefore, growing pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. is another factor driving growth of the chlorine market. According to the International Trade Association (ITA), the total pharmaceutical sales in 2016 was valued at US$ 333 billion in the U.S.
Figure 2. Global Chlorine Market Share (%), By Region, 2017
Source: Coherent Market Insights, 2017-18
Major players operating in the global chlorine market include, BASF SE, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Ercros SA, Ineos Group Ltd., Olin Corporation, PPG Industries, Tosoh Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, Westlake Chemical Corporation, Solvay S.A., Akzo Nobel N.V., and Covestro AG
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