Global Organic Catalyst Market Analysis (2024 – 2030)

The global Organic Catalyst Market stood at USD 39.32 billion in 2022, with a projected expansion to USD 54.77 billion by 2030. This sector is experiencing a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.85% between 2024 and 2030. The surge in organocatalysis applications within green chemistry, aimed at developing technologies that diminish the use of hazardous substances, coupled with the environmental advantages linked to this market, primarily propel the industry's growth.

Industry Overview:

An organic catalyst, also referred to as an organocatalyst, is a substance primarily composed of organic molecules such as C, H, O, N, S, and P. Its function involves accelerating the rate of a chemical reaction. Organocatalysis refers to the process of enhancing the rate of a chemical reaction using these compounds. The advantages of organic catalysts, including their insensitivity to oxygen and moisture, ease of reaction manipulation, low toxicity, cost-effectiveness, and wide availability, make them preferred materials in the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors over other transition metal catalysts.

Moreover, organic catalysts demonstrate compatibility with numerous functional groups and do not necessitate anhydrous conditions. This feature reduces the number of reaction steps and overall synthesis costs. In contrast, metal-organic catalysts involve metals combined with organic catalysts, posing health risks in medicinal applications. Consequently, manufacturers are increasingly employing organic chemical catalysts for biological catalysis, aligning with the principles of green chemistry.

The global demand for gas experienced a significant decline of 10-15% in Q2, 2020, attributed to suspended air travel and national lockdowns. Numerous plants have either shut down or operate at reduced capacities, potentially impacting market demand, especially in severely affected economies like Iran, the U.S., China, India, France, Italy, and the U.K. Environmental catalysts facilitate compliance with stringent regulations concerning NOx, Sox, and carbon dioxide emissions.

The shift towards alternative fuels such as biodiesel and shale gas further propels the demand for catalysts. Additionally, manufacturers aiming to enhance the value of their feedstock or refine by producing value-added petrochemicals and chemicals like methanol and polyolefins drive demand from petrochemicals and chemicals applications.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Organic Catalyst Market

The unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak resulted in factory and manufacturing site closures, leading to a substantial decline in oil demand, a first-time occurrence in a decade. Furthermore, increased tensions between Russia and KSA significantly lowered oil prices. However, amidst these challenges, the pandemic has spurred opportunities for market innovation and product experimentation.

Market Drivers:

Stringent Air Pollution Regulations:

The primary growth catalyst for the Industrial Catalyst market stems from global regulations tightening concerning air pollution standards. Catalysts play a pivotal role in emission control and clean fuel technologies across automotive, chemical, petrochemical, and various other sectors. The surge in global population has paralleled increased industrialization, resulting in elevated pollution levels. The booming demand for both light and heavy automobile engines, all reliant on catalysts for emission control, has prompted governments in the Asia Pacific Region, U.S., and Europe to reinforce policies against air pollution. Consequently, the market for industrial catalysts has witnessed substantial growth.

Chemical Product Manufacturing:

Another significant driver is the utilization of catalysts in chemical production, petroleum refining, and petrochemical processes. The continuous expansion of these markets and their derivatives has sustained a steady demand for catalysts.

Market Restraints:

Fluctuating Raw Material Prices:

The market faces a restraint in the form of fluctuating prices of raw materials essential for catalyst carriers. Catalyst carriers are primarily synthesized from various metallic and non-metal oxide compounds, the costs of which have shown significant variability over time. Additionally, some catalyst carriers utilize rare earth elements, which due to their limited availability, elevate production costs. The unpredictability of raw material prices is expected to persist in the near term, significantly impacting the catalyst carrier market. Furthermore, fluctuations in metal prices used in catalyst carrier production pose challenges for manufacturers, who may be compelled to transfer these costs to consumers of catalyst carriers.

Organic Catalyst Market - By Raw Material:

• Chemicals
• Metal
• Zeolites
• And others

Chemical compounds emerged as the predominant raw material segment of the market, representing a value share of 38.3% in 2019. Various chemical compounds such as sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and calcium carbonate serve as catalyst raw materials across a range of applications in the chemical, petrochemical, and polymer industries.

Metals utilized for dehydrogenation and hydrogenation include noble metals (such as platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, gold, and copper), non-noble metals (like tungsten and molybdenum), and others such as nickel and cobalt, serving as crucial catalyst raw materials. These metals expedite the process of breaking down and rearranging aromatics and olefins to produce fractions like alkanes and naphthenes.

In addition to metals and chemicals, zeolites stand out as another significant raw material utilized in catalysts, primarily employed for catalytic and adsorbent purposes due to their porous nature and large surface area. Zeolites have the capacity to host a variety of ions within their porous structure. These materials are either naturally occurring or can be commercially manufactured through crystallization reactions.

Organic Catalyst Market - By Product:

• Homogeneous
• Heterogeneous
• Others

Regarding product segmentation, heterogeneous catalysts emerged as the leading product category of the market, capturing a share of 72.1% in 2019. Homogeneous catalysts are converted into heterogeneous catalysts through solid supports to mitigate their toxicity. Examples of common heterogeneous catalysts include sulfated zirconia, sulfonated carbon materials, sulfonated silica materials, and sulfonated MOF materials.

The advantages associated with the application of heterogeneous catalysts include cost-effectiveness, easy separation of catalyst from products, and straightforward application processes, all of which are expected to propel this segment forward. Furthermore, the increasing preference for heterogeneous catalysts over their homogeneous counterparts, particularly in biodiesel production, is likely to fuel the growth of the catalyst market in the forecast period.

Homogeneous catalysts encompass products such as boric acid, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid. These catalysts are known to exhibit superior performance in industrial and raw material reactions compared to their heterogeneous counterparts. However, these methods often result in significant amounts of toxic waste, posing environmental risks. This has spurred the demand for environmentally friendly catalysts, with the availability of biodegradable homogeneous catalysts like methanesulfonic acid (MSA) helping to meet such requirements.

Organic Catalyst Market - By Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• Latin America
• The Middle East
• Africa

Geographically, Asia Pacific is poised to command the largest market share, accounting for 33.7% in 2019, driven by the dominance of the automobile, petrochemicals, polymer, and chemical industries, particularly in China. China, with a substantial presence of chemical and polymer manufacturing entities, has emerged as a manufacturing hub for chemical and petrochemical products owing to increasing domestic demand and competitive manufacturing costs compared to the U.S. and European Union countries. The market growth in Asia Pacific is further bolstered by the rising FDI investments and promising growth opportunities presented by developing nations such as India and Vietnam.

North America stands as the second-largest market, attributed to evolving low sulfur and automotive mandates necessitating the use of environmental catalysts in the region. The growing consumption of gasoline in the U.S. is expected to drive the demand for catalysts used in converting heavy crude oil into lighter fractions such as kerosene, diesel, and gasoline. Additionally, the expansion of the oil and gas, as well as chemical sectors in Mexico, plays a pivotal role in the market growth in North America.

The Middle East and Africa, representing a market value share of 6.5% in 2019, are expected to present lucrative opportunities for petroleum refining catalysts due to the dominance of the oil and gas industry in countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar within the region. A surge in domestic demand across automotive, construction, packaging, and pharmaceutical industries is anticipated to drive chemical manufacturers to enhance their production output for polymers and petrochemicals in the Middle East.

Organic Catalyst Market Share by Company

Prominent companies such as:

1. Bio-Organic Catalyst (US)
2. Yangzhou Dajiang Chemical Co., Ltd (China)
3. Newtopchem (China)
4. BASF SE (Germany)
5. Nouryon (The Netherlands)
6. Pon Pure Chemicals (India)
7. Gulbrandsen (US)
8. Evonik Industries AG (Germany)
9. Mitsubishi Biopharma (India)
10. Mystical Biotech Pvt Ltd (India)
11. Novozymes (Denmark)
12. AB Enzymes (Germany)
13. DSM (The Netherlands)
14. Aum Enzymes (India)
15. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland)

And others play pivotal roles in the market.

A notable trend in the Industrial Catalyst Industry is the increasing application of Industrial Catalysts in methanol production, driven by the rising demand for methanol. With the escalation of crude oil prices and the growing demand for essential derivatives such as propylene and butylene, companies are turning to methanol as an alternative source for producing these derivatives. The establishment of more methanol production plants is boosting the market for catalyst technologies aimed at efficient methanol production.

NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE GLOBAL ORGANIC CATALYST MARKET RECENTLY:

• Product Launch - In April 2021, Saint GobainNorpro (U.S.) introduced catalyst carriers for the Accu sphere, designed to meet the increasing demand for small diameter supports from the petrochemical, chemical, and refining industries. These new spherical catalyst carriers offer high geometric surface area, uniform packaging, and even flow distribution.
• Product Integration - In early 2020, BASF announced a series of new product innovations in its selective hydrogenation catalysts portfolio, including palladium alumina catalysts and PTA catalyst CBA-250.