Rising Environmental Concerns Bring Green Solvents into the Spotlight as Potential Substitutes for Conventional Solvents


Ubiquitous need for solvents in a wide range of industrial processes coupled with the growing popularity of green/bio solvents to address environmental concerns is poised to drive the global Solvents market to exceed 33.4 million metric tons by 2024. A solvent is a liquid formulation that is capable of suspending, dissolving or extracting various substances, without influencing any chemical change to the subject material and the end-product. Solvents function on the principle of 'like dissolves like' and are used for separating, cleaning and processing of materials. Solvents are primarily used for forming a solution by dissolving the solute and bring out properties of some substances. These solutions are selected or applied on the basis of numerous factors including safety and health and environmental effects, along with inherent features such as dissolving strength, evaporation and viscosity rates, flammability, and toxicity. To suffice various end-use level requirements, solvents of different categories and classes are offered that include alcohols, ketones, esters, ethers, chlorinated solvents, and hydrocarbon solvents. Each of these solvents integrates unique features to fully support the end-use level requirements of the intended application. The most common form of solvent is water. Aromatic solvents contain an aromatic hydrocarbon and are classified as cyclic hydrocarbons. They have come under stringent regulations owing to their adverse impact on environment and health, which is hindering market growth.

Growing usage and popularity of eco-friendly bio solvents also threaten market growth of aromatic solvents. The demand for coatings & paints is increasing, driven by increase in construction activity. This in turn is boosting the demand of aliphatic hydrocarbon thinners and solvents. In several industries such as personal care, pharmaceutical, paints & coatings, and adhesives, usage of bio and green solvents has increased considerably. This rapid increase in their usage has been driven by formulation of various environmental regulations for lowering Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) based toxic emissions. Other factors steering growth in the usage of bio and green solvents include their outstanding degradable properties, rising prices of crude oil, and efforts to reduce reliance on petrochemical solvents.

The prospects for solvents, which are used for dissolving, suspending or extracting other materials and to process, clean, apply, or separate materials in a range of industrial and commercial applications, are closely tied to the level of industrial activity and manufacturing output, which itself is strongly influenced by the prevailing economic scenario. Any downturn or deceleration in the economy negatively influences the industrial activity, thus depressing the demand for solvents used in numerous industrial applications including manufacture of paints & coatings, adhesives, and metal and industrial cleaning, and polymer and rubber manufacturing among others. Rapid construction activity in emerging markets and a refurbishment driven recovery in developed markets is driving the paints & coatings market. On the other hand stable manufacturing industry across the world is leading to stable demand for cleaning agents, which constitute a major component in industrial cleaning. In particular, electronic cleaning solvents are experiencing high growth, driven by growing automation, rising digitalization, thriving electronic sector, rapid urbanization, robust industrialization, increasing investments by manufacturers and increasing research and development activities.

As stated by the new market research report on Solvents, Asia-Pacific region, driven by China, represents the largest regional market worldwide, followed by Europe. Asia-Pacific region is also forecast to witness the fastest growth among all regions, with a CAGR of 4% over the analysis period, owing to stable consumption in China, as well higher growth from India, and Southeast Asian countries. Alcohols represent the largest and fastest growing solvent across the world, primarily owing to its eco-friendly attributes. On the other hand Chlorinated Solvents and Hydrocarbon Solvents are bearing the brunt of regulatory crackdown on solvents and are witnessing declines, especially in developed markets which have stricter regulatory oversight. Among end-use industries, the Paints & Coatings represents the largest and fastest growing end-use application, while Cleaning and Adhesive applications are projected to witness below average growth.

Major players in the market include BASF SE, BioAmber, Inc., BP p.l.c., Celanese Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Honeywell International, Inc., Huntsman Corporation, INEOS Group Limited, LyondellBasell Industries N.V., Occidental Chemical Corporation, Sasol Limited, Shell Chemicals Limited, Solvay S.A., The Dow Chemical Company, and Union Carbide Corporation among others.

The research report titled "Solvents: A Global Strategic Business Report" announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, growth drivers, innovations and launches, and strategic industry activities various players. The report provides market estimates and projections in Metric Tons for Solvents for all major geographic markets including the US, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), Latin America, and Rest of World. Product segments analysed include Alcohols, Ketones, Esters, Ethers, Chlorinated Solvents, and Hydrocarbon Solvents. End-use applications analyzed include Cleaning Agents, Paints & Coatings, Adhesives, and Other end-use applications.

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