Precious Metal Catalysts Market Overview
Precious Metal Catalysts Market size is forecast to reach $12.1 billion by 2026, after growing at a CAGR
of 5.9% during 2021-2026. Since platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, and
other precious metals are inactive towards chemical reaction and are chemically
highly stable, they are used in several applications in a variety of industries
such as petrochemicals, refinery, chemicals, polymer, and pharmaceuticals. Increasing demand for precious metal
catalysts in the automotive industry aid in minimizing atmospheric emissions of
volatile organic compounds and other pollutants would also drive the market
growth. Furthermore, the accelerating demand for high-performance fuel for
transport and growing investment in refineries are the major factors which is
anticipated to drive the the precious metal catalysts industry in the forecast
era.
Impact of COVID-19
The demand for
precious metal catalysts declined in the year 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Reduction in mining output, closure of various key refineries, transport/logistics
impacts, and reduction in trading desk risk appetite are the main factors which
affected the precious metal catalysts market growth in the year 2020.
Report Coverage
The: “Precious Metal Catalysts Market Report – Forecast (2021-2026)”, by IndustryARC,
covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the precious metal catalysts market.
By Type: Ruthenium, Iridium, Rhodium,
Palladium, Platinum, Gold, Rhenium, Nickel, Silver, and Others.
By Reaction Type: Hydrogenation,
Asymmetric
hydrogenation, Reductive amination, Alkylation, Hydrogenation cracking reaction, Carbonylation,
and Others.
By Application: Automotive, Petrochemical, Refinery, Polymers,
Pharmaceuticals, Power Plants, and Others.
By Geography: North
America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Spain,
Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, and Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (China, Japan,
India, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Rest of Asia
Pacific),South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Rest of South America), and RoW (Middle East and Africa).
Key Takeaways
- Increasing use of advanced
nano-technology to increase the surface area of the exposed metal so that the
fine metal particles stay isolated, leading to efficient cleaning of gas during
exhaust cleaning of cars is estimated to drive the market growth in the
forecast period.
- Growing investment in R&D
in precious metal catalysts to minimize costs and achieve maximum returns from
the metals recovered is boosting the growth of the market.
- Besides, with increasing health
consciousness among consumers, the rising healthcare industry is driving the
demand for precious metal catalysts market growth. In pharmaceuticals, the use
of precious metal catalysts is growing due to its growing usage as an
anti-cancer agent.
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Segment Analysis - By Type
Platinum is the most
widely used metal in the precious metal catalysts market, which, enhances
combustion, and helps to minimize the CO2 emission control
applications. Besides, platinum provides many other benefits, such as producing
a strong melting point, providing thermal resilience, having excellent
low-temperature oxidation activity, being efficient against sulfur compounds
and helping to minimize the sulfur content of crude oil in refineries. Since platinum
is efficient under oxygen-rich conditions, it is commonly used for diesel
applications. The platinum catalyst segment's dominant
position is due to the increase in diesel vehicle sales in different
regions. Thus, with the increasing demand for platinum catalyst for several
applications the precious metal catalysts market is estimated to experience
growth in the forecast period.
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Segment Analysis - By Reaction
Type
Hydrogenation
reaction held the largest share in the precious metal catalysts market in 2020.
Precious metal catalysis is often synonymous with versatility and diversity. Owing
to their dissociative behavior against hydrogen and oxygen, dehydrogenation, isomerization,
and aromatization, these metals effectively catalyze oxidation and
hydrogenation. The size and shape of platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium,
and other precious metal nanocrystals have a great impact on their reaction
performance in hydrogenation. Although commercial plants are operated under
heated and pressurized conditions, many hydrogenation reactions proceed at room
temperature.
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Segment Analysis - By Application
Automotive held
the largest share with more than 25% in the precious metal catalysts market in 2020
and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period 2021-2026.
Precious metals have long been important in auto manufacturing to ensure the
environmental efficiency and reliability of components such as catalytic
converters and sensors for the engine. As high-tech vehicles expand, precious
metals will also become more important. Besides, the use of platinum in
catalytic converters for converting unburned hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide
and water vapor in cars, the use of precious metal catalysts in exhaust
cleaning of car is on the rise. Thus, with the rising demand for precious
metal catalysts from the automotive industry is expected to drive the market growth
in the forecast period.
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Segment Analysis - Geography
The Asia Pacific
region held the largest share with 35% in precious metal catalysts market in 2020.
Globally demand for precious metal catalysts is dominated by the Asia-Pacific
region due to the rising automotive, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries. Asia Pacific constitutes a major share of the global precious metal catalysts market,
due to easy availability of raw materials at competitive prices in the region.
Rapid growth of the automotive and pharmaceutical industry in China, India, and
South Korea is projected to propel the demand for precious metal catalysts in
the near future. According to the OICA, the production of cars by 2020 gradually
increased from 26,84,192 in first quarter to 1,32,21,849 in third quarter, in
China. Thus, the demand for the precious metal catalysts market is therefore
anticipated to increase in the forecast period because of the mentioned factors.
Figure:
Asia Pacific Precious
Metal Catalysts Market Revenue, 2020-2026
(US$ Billion)
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Drivers
Environmental Concern and Strict Government Regulations
Emission regulations to control pollution levels were implemented by
governments and catalytic converters quickly became a common way to help meet
these new requirements. Catalytic converters generate cleaner emissions by
converting toxic by-products of vehicle engines, using an internal combustion
technique which catalyzes chemical reactions. In order to ensure that pollution
goals are met, regulators have set stringent regulations on the performance
characteristics of these products, which, in turn, are estimated to drive
demand growth for precious metal catalysts. For instance, as per the European
Federation for Transport and Environment the future post-Euro 6/VI standard
(formally referred to as 'Euro 7/VII') allows the EU the capability to
eliminate pollution from road transport, reclaim technological and regulatory
leadership, and align standards with its existing 'Zero Pollution Ambition' and
the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Thus, strict
government regulations is estimated to drive the market growth of precious
metal catalysts in the forecast period.
Increasing Demand for Nano-Scale Precious Metal Catalysts
Due to improved and speedy performance during chemical processing
and to offset the high cost of noble materials, the use of nano-particle
catalysts made from noble materials has increased. Hydrogen and oxygen are
readily absorbed into the atmosphere by the nano-scale metal particles found in
precious metal catalysts. Under moderate conditions, the absorbed hydrogen and
oxygen readily react with several substitutes. Thus, if mild reaction
conditions are retained, it is possible to achieve a relatively high product
yield by reducing by-product formation. With developments in the field of
nano-technology, progress has been made in recent times in the preparation of
precious metal catalysts. This has resulted in energy savings, high
productivity, and declination in production costs. Thus, the rising
demand for nano-scale precious metal catalysts is expected to drive the precious metal catalysts market growth during the forecast era.
Precious Metal Catalysts Market Challenges
Volatility in the Price of Precious Metals
Precious metals such as platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, and
others, are volatile and difficult to predict. Severe price fluctuations pose a
challenge for every company that includes precious metal catalysts in its value
creation chain. Volatility in the price of precious metals affects margins,
capital commitment, and competitiveness. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Compared with the average
prices of January 2019, the average prices for January 2020 more than tripled
for rhodium and rose by 68 percent for palladium and 22 percent for platinum. In
comparison to gold, platinum is quite dependent on industrial demand and mining
activity. Therefore, the price of platinum is very unpredictable. Of all
precious metals, the price of platinum fluctuates the most. Hence, the fluctuation in the price of precious metals will further
create hurdles for the precious metal catalysts market in the forecast period.
Market Landscape
Technology launches,
acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in
the precious metal catalysts market. Major players in the precious metal
catalysts market are BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG, Heraeus Group, Johnson
Matthey Plc, Umicore SA, Clariant International Ltd, Alfa Aesar, and Vineeth
Precious Catalysts Pvt. Ltd among others.
Acquisitions/Technology
Launches
- In November 2020, Evonik
Industries AG has acquired the Porocel Group, in Houston (USA). With this
acquisition the company target to expand the competencies with new technologies
and products to further strengthen the presence of Evonik's catalyst activities
globally.
- In March 2020, BASF SE has
launched a Tri-Metal Catalyst that can reduce the cost of catalytic converters
for automakers and partially rebalance the consumer demand for Platinum Group
Metals (PGMs), thus improving the sustainability of the PGM market.
Relevant Reports
Report Code: CMR 0205
Report Code: CMR 0095
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