Petrochemical (Petroleum and Chemical) Catalysts

Report Highlights

• Total sales in the U.S. in 2005 for petrochemical catalysts was $4.6 billion and is expected to rise at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 3.0% to almost $5.4 billion in 2010.
• All types of chemical catalysts totaled $1.10 billion in 2005, growing at an annual rate of about 3.2%.
• Petroleum refining catalysts are a smaller, current market at $847 million sales in 2005, predicted to grow at a 3.2% AAGR to $1 billion in 2010.
• Polymerization is the largest chemical catalyst segment with a market of about $810 million and the fastest growing. Growth in petroleum catalysts is spurred by increasing demand for reformulated and other lesspolluting gasolines mandated by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

INTRODUCTION

Catalysts and the products made with them are all around us, even though most people know neither what catalysts are nor what they do. Some experts claim that catalysts are involved somewhere along the chain in the manufacture of products that represent about one-third of the entire U.S. material Gross Domestic Product. Considering that a high percentage of chemical and refined petroleum products are made via catalytic reactions, this percentage seems logical. Recent studies have estimated that catalysts are responsible for close to $4 trillion in goods and services worldwide annually and the total global catalyst is more than $10 billion.

Some catalyst markets are considered mature and most continue to grow at moderate rates in keeping with chemical and refining process technology and in general. But, as has always been the case in innovative industries some, such as the single-site/metallocene polymerization catalysts, have become a major growth area.

This BCC market research report describes the compounds, products, and markets for catalysts that we describe as “petrochemical.” That is, catalysts that are used in petroleum refining; in petrochemical processes in which the feedstocks come from crude oil or natural gas; and in chemical reactions/processes in which the feedstock materials may come from other sources. This is big ; the petrochemical industry in the U.S. is one of the nation’s largest.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The report contains:

• An overview to catalysis and catalysts
• Discussion and analysis of the markets for catalysts used in chemical processes with forecasts to 2010
• Discussion and analysis of the markets for catalysts used in petroleum refining with forecasts to 2010
• Examination of catalyst technologies, with emphasis on both established and new catalyst technologies
• Important facets of government regulation and public policy
• Analysis of the industry’s structure
• Profiles of those supplier companies that BCC considers to be among the most important in these es.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

Searches were made of the literature and the Internet, including many of the leading trade publications, as well as technical compendia and government publications. Much product and market information was obtained whenever possible from the companies involved. The information for our corporate profiles was obtained primarily from the companies, especially the larger publicly owned firms. Other sources included directories, articles, and Internet sites.