n-Butanol Market size is forecast to reach $6.74 billion by 2025 after growing at a CAGR of 6.5% during 2020-2025. n-Butanol is a chemical compound that falls within the alcohol reagent family. Due to their increasing use as additives, solvents and fuels, alcohols have found their way onto the market. The market is driven by the increasing demand for n-butanol as a solvent. Because of its solubility and compatibility with many resin formulations and aqueous systems, n- Butanol is widely used as a solvent in many end-use applications. Most of the n-butanol produced by leading vendors is converted to its derivatives which are used in the coating industry as solvents.
Key Takeaways
- Asia-pacific dominates the n-Butanol market owing to the rising industrialization and automotive sector.
- The demand for n-Butanol is high in this region due to the presence of a large industrial base for all the application segments, such as butyl acetate, butyl acrylate, glycol ether, and direct solvents.
- Europe will grow at a slow pace as various players of n-butanol are shifting their focus to developing economies of Asia Pacific owing to immense growth potential in the region.
- North America will be seeing substantial expansion of the industry in view of the region's growing personal care, fashion and medical sectors.
By Application– Segment Analysis
Butyl Carboxylates segment held the largest share in the n-Butanol market in 2019. n-Butanol are used in Butyl Carboxylates are used in engineering plastics, automotive coating, marine coating, adhesives, and super absorbent polymers will bring robust growth for the n-butanol market. Additionally, high use as a reactant and diluents in the processing of melamine-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resins is expected to build huge growth potential over the coming years. Engineering plastics are gradually replacing metal from construction and automotive industries due to their durability, designing flexibility, high strength-to-weight ratios, and low densities. Furthermore, demand for the engineering plastics market is complemented by growth in end-user industries, since engineering plastics are used primarily by injection molding into the required end product. However, fluctuating crude oil prices and regulatory challenges with respect to CO2 emissions are expected to hamper market growth.
By End Use – Segment Analysis
Building and Construction segment held the largest share in the n-Butanol market in 2019 growing at a CAGR of 8%. Over the period 2013 to 2018, M&A activity in the construction sector steadily increased up to 484 deals recorded in 2018, up from 273 deals recorded in 2013. North America, Europe and Asia are the regions with the most dominance in terms of the number of deals entered. Both are based on Europe and Asia show decline in construction deals over 2018 compared to 2017, while North America shows a sharp growth in total deals recorded. Currently, the global economy is in severe slowdown mode amidst deepening credit crunch, upsetting developmental targets of economies and COVID-19 pandemic across the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced investment in construction related projects in the range of 13 to 30% which will have significant impact on Gross Value Added (GVA) and employment in this sector. Since the construction sector is primarily dominated by infrastructure projects, the current levels of uncertainty are expected to seriously hit the sector.
Geography - Segment Analysis
Asia-Pacific (APAC) dominated the n-Butanol market consisting share of 38% followed by North America and Europe. The region has a large & robust industrial base for all segments of application like glycol ether and direct solvents. In addition, developing Asia-Pacific economies, including China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are expected to see increased demand for personal care goods, textiles, crop protection chemicals, and medicines. The main reasons for market growth in these countries are the growing population, increasing urbanization and changing lifestyles. In addition, high demand in the personal care sector as it is used as an ingredient in perfumes and as a solvent for the extraction of essential oils over the forecast period will propel the n-butanol industry.
Drivers – n-Butanol Market
- Demand for green fuels will drive the market.
n-Butanol market has multiple growth drivers and the most important driver is the increasing demand for green, sustainable, and non-polluting fuels. Biobutanol fuel derived from biomass feedstock produced using the ABE fermentation turns out to be an extremely clean and sustainable fuel with a comparable high energy density to gasoline. It is an important replacement for bioethanol fuel, since bioethanol has a lower energy density and is potentially harmful to existing internal combustion engines in gasoline. Owing to advanced technology and technological advancements such as CRISPR and bio-engineering, large-scale processing of bio-butanol using fermentation will be made possible in the future however. Genetically modifying certain species of bacteria will assist in the mass production of n-butanol which has tremendous scope in the energy and fuel sector.
hallenges – n-Butanol Market
- Difficulty in fermentation of bio-butanol can restrict the market growth.
The mass production to the bio-Butanol fuel through the traditional ABE fermentation technique is still not sustainable due to its toxicity for the bacteria that aid in the fermentation. As a result, most of the n-Butanol used in the various industrial and chemical applications is synthetically produced from the derived crude oil, propylene. Since crude oil is a volatile raw material with daily price fluctuations, it ultimately reflects in n-Butanol's final product or its end products.
Market Landscape
Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the n-Butanol market. In 2019 the n-Butanol market has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for xx% of the share. Major players in the n-Butanol market rare Arkema, BASF SE, Dow Chemical Company, Eastman Chemical Company, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, and Others.
Acquisitions/Technology Launches/ Product Launches
In March 2016, Saudi Butanol Company (SaBuCo) constructed a butanol plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The new plant is touted to be the first of its kind in the Middle East and the biggest in the world. The butanol plant produces 330,000t per annum of n-butanol and 11,000t per annum of iso-butanol. Both n-butanol and iso-butanol are intermediates used in the construction industry.
