Chlor-Alkali Market: Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size & Forecasts to 2023

The consistent global demand for alumina, pulp and paper, vinyls and other derivatives provide positive growth opportunities for chlor-alkali market. Furthermore, heavy investments in alumina industry are expected to provide growth opportunities for chlor-alkali market, as caustic soda is a major raw material for alumina refining process.

The global chlor-alkali market is projected to growing at a CAGR between 5.3% and 5.9% from 2017 to 2023. The chlor-alkali process is an electrolytic process by which chlorine and alkali are produced from a salt solution. Diaphragm cell process, mercury cell process and membrane cell process are the three types of technologies utilized for chlor-alkali process. Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), muriatic acid, and potassium hydroxide are the major alkalis’ produced during this process. Usually seawater is used as the brine solution. If potassium brine is used, the alkali obtained by the process will be potassium hydroxide. Chlorine is a major chemical building block in various industries and it accounts for major portion of overall chlor-alkali demand. Chlorine finds major application in the EDC/PVC industry. Moreover, caustic soda finds applications in industries such as aluminum, cleaning agents, food, soap, textiles, and some others.

Figure 1: Global Chlor-Alkali market projection



Market Insights

The consistent global demand for alumina, pulp and paper, vinyls and other derivatives provide positive growth opportunities for chlor-alkali market. Furthermore, heavy investments in alumina industry are expected to provide growth opportunities for chlor-alkali market, as caustic soda is a major raw material for alumina refining process. The demand for chlorine is leading many chlor-alkali manufacturers to upgrade technology as well as manufacturing facilities to improve the production of allied products as well to have optimum output and it is expected to help in the growth of the market. Moreover, the growing demand from industries such as automobile, construction, food, paper, pulp and other industries are expected to drive the global chlor-alkali market .Moreover, the demand for chlor-alkali products in inorganic and organic chemicals industries are expected to enhance the growth of the global chlor-alkali market during the forecast period. However, the emission of mercury and carbon during the manufacturing of chlor-alkali has environmental implications, which in turn is likely to restrain the growth in this market over the forecast period. Replacing the older technology for production to overcome this issue is a major challenge for the players in the global chlor-alkali market during the forecast period. However, with several chlor-alkali manufacturers are adopting membrane cell technology, there is significant scope for reduction of environmental impact. This is expected to drive volume of the chlor-alkali market to grow during the forecast period.

Segments Covered:                                                                  

The report segments the global chlor-alkali market by products, application, and region. The products include Caustic Soda, Chlorine, and Soda Ash. Further, on the basis of application, caustic soda, chlorine, and soda ash are further sub segmented.

Geographic Coverage and Analysis:

The report provides regional analysis covering geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. In this section the key trends and market size for each geography is provided over the period of 2015 – 2023.

Figure 2: Global Chlor-Alkali market by region



Asia-Pacific region is the largest chlor-alkali market in the world. China, India and South East Asian countries drive the Asia-Pacific region with huge consumption of caustic soda, chlorine, and soda ash in industries such as construction, food& beverages, metal refining, paper, plastics, and others. China is among the largest chlor-alkali producing countries in the world and its domestic market has the highest demand for chlor-alkali in the world. Europe and North America are the next major chlor-alkali markets. Major water purification processes used in Europe require chlorine. Moreover, chlorinated compounds are widely used for synthesis of several active chemicals in the pharmaceutical industry. The greater demand for chlorine from these industries drives the European chlor-alkali market. The increase in demand from the automobile industry is expected to drive the North American chlor-alkali market over the forecast period. Further, the demand for chlor-alkali in developing countries drives the growth of chlor-alkali market in the Latin America. African chlor-alkali market received huge investments in the downstream chemicals segment and it is expected to fuel the growth of the market in the region over the period of 2017 to 2023. Moreover, the increased demand for EDC and PVC in emerging countries is expected to drive the African chlor-alkali market, as those industries need more chlorine during the forecast period.

Companies Profiled:

The companies covered in the report include AkzoNobel NV, Axiall Corporation, Bayer Material Sciences Ag, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Solvay Chemicals, The Dow Chemicals, Tata Chemicals Ltd, Hanwha Chemical Corporation, Tosoh Corporation, and Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co. Ltd.