US water treatment chemicals demand

A new report from The Freedonia Group Inc., has released a report called ‘Water Treatment Chemicals’. The report states that demand for water treatment chemicals in the US is forecast to rise 3.2%/y to US$ 6.7 billion in 2017. These gains will reflect not only healthy growth in oil, gas and mining industries and a rebound in manufacturing output, but also the increased use of scale control and other water treatment chemical products that help protect companies’ investments in water treatment equipment. The report also states that A shift in product mix favouring more efficient and less hazardous chemicals that have higher prices will also promote growth in market value. Additionally, chemical demand will be supported by efforts to recycle water, as water treated for reuse usually needs greater conditioning than fresh supply water. The energy and mining markets are predicted to show the fastest growth through 2017.

Fastest growing agents

The study reports that scale control agents are expected to show the fastest growth through 2017, followed by foam control agents. In addition to the boost from increased use of water treatment equipment, demand for these products will be supported by a shift to more expensive chemicals and increased recycling activities. Biocide demand growth, however, will be restrained by rising use of disinfection equipment.

Areas of modest growth

It is thought that the largest, more mature categories of water treatment chemicals are expected to show more modest growth, with gains driven by trends in equipment use, water use and recycling, and changes in product mix. An increased emphasis on reducing sludge volumes and demand for higher value coagulants and flocculants will be supported by greater use of membrane separation systems. Corrosion inhibitor market value is expected to recover from the price declines of the 2007 – 2012 period.

Looking to the future, demand for these products will be supported by increased oil and gas production and by gains in manufacturing output. Demand for pH control agents will be supported by water recycling efforts. However, the declining use of alum as a coagulant and the dependence on inexpensive commodity chemicals for pH adjustment will slow growth for these products. The US EPA’s Disinfection Byproducts (DBP) Rules are expected to contribute to the slowdown in biocide use in the municipal market, particularly as disinfection equipment can be used to reduce chemical use. 

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/01102013/us_water_treatment_chemicals705/