Global Alkylate Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029

Global Alkylate Market, By Production Process (Sulfuric Acid Alkylation, Hydrofluoric Acid Alkylation, Others), End Use (Aviation, Automobile, Agriculture, Others), Application (Solvents, Surfactants and Synthetic Sulfonates, Specialty Lubricants, Functional Fluids, Additives, Others) – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029

Market Analysis and Size

Recently, alkylate is gaining traction as a key component in producing clean, high-octane gasoline from a 100% isobutylene feedstock. With this feedstock, manufacturers are gaining a strong research base in techniques that maximize product octane while minimizing end-point. The alkylate market is growing as a result of investments in new production capacity. Hengli Petrochemical, a company that deals in the supply and trading of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemical products, has announced that its new 300 Kmta Stratco alkylation unit, which DuPont Clean Technologies license, will begin operations in China. These advancements are assisting companies in producing high-quality alkylate from 100% isobutylene feedstock. As a result, alkylate are estimated to have an accelerated market growth over forecasted period.

Global Alkylate Market was valued at USD 1141.80 million in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 1538.75 million by 2029, registering a CAGR of 3.80% during the forecast period of 2022-2029.The "additives" segment is estimated to show a highest market share over the forecast period owing to the high demand for alkylate's utilization as an additive to the fuel. In addition to the market insights such as market value, growth rate, market segments, geographical coverage, market players, and market scenario, the market report curated by the Data Bridge Market Research team also includes in-depth expert analysis, import/export analysis, pricing analysis, production consumption analysis, and climate chain scenario.

Report Scope and Market Segmentation

Market Definition

Alkylate is a high-octane gasoline component that is produced in petroleum refineries by converting isobutane and low-molecular-weight alkenes into alkylate. It is made by reacting light olefins, such as butylenes, with isoparaffins, such as isobutane, in the presence of an acidic catalyst in typical refinery sources, fluid catalytic cracking units, or steam cracking units. Alkylate is widely used to boost the octane rating of major fuels (including gasoline). Furthermore, they are widely used in the manufacture of agrichemicals such as fertilisers, insecticides, herbicides, and pesticides.Alkylate Market Dynamics

This section deals with understanding the market drivers, advantages, opportunities, restraints and challenges. All of this is discussed in detail as below:

Drivers

• Increased Utilization in Agrochemical Formulation

Agrochemicals boost the quantity and quality of agricultural products. They are used in horticulture, dairy farming, livestock, grain farming, shifting cultivation, and commercial plantations, among other agricultural fields. Agrochemicals have become more common as crop infestations have become more common. As alkylate is used to sulfonate agrochemicals like fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, the agrochemical industry's expansion is fueling demand for alkylate. The agrochemicals industry is expected to benefit from increased demand for crop protection chemicals such as fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. As a result, the global alkylate market is expected to grow during the forecast period.

• High Demand for Alkylate

Alkylate has been in high demand for the manufacture of refinery products. This is expected to fuel the alkylate market during the forecast period, as alkylate is widely used in the refinery industry for fuel production due to its high octane value, which is achieved by converting low molecular weight alkenes to alkylates in the presence of sulfuric or hydrofluoric acid. Alkylates are used as fuel additives to achieve high octane and low vapour pressure. Light olefins (such as butylene) are primarily converted into high-quality gasoline blend stock by reacting them with isobutene in alkylate production. The global demand for highly efficient gasoline in the automotive sector is expected to increase alkylate demand.

The new and existing players are investing majorly in the new production capacities, which will further propel the growth rate of alkylate market. Additionally, the expansion of the automotive industry and the aviation industry are other market growth determinants projected to bolster the growth of the market.

Opportunities

• Research and Developments and Government Expenditure

Furthermore, the rise in research and development (R&D) activities by alkylate manufacturers extend profitable opportunities to the market players in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Additionally, the growing government expenditure on these key end-use sectors will further expand the future growth of the alkylate market.

Restraints/Challenges

• Emergence of Alternatives

Alkylate is has been largely used as a fuel additive in the automotive industry. However, the emergence of electric vehicles further restricts the demand of alkylate. Moreover, the availability of the alternative fuels is likely to create hindrances for the growth of the global alkylate market during the forecast period.

• Drawbacks of Alkylate

The unit process large volumes of light hydrocarbons, which are highly flammable and potentially explosive, are the major drawbacks of the alkylation process. Furthermore, the acid catalyst is corrosive and toxic, impeding market growth. These drawbacks are estimated to challenge the alkylate market growth rate.

This alkylate market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import-export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on the alkylate market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

COVID-19 Impact on Alkylate Market

The recent outbreak of coronavirus had a huge impact on the alkylate market. The pandemic has slashed demand for premium gasoline, resulting in a price drop for alkylate and a tightening of the octane spread. The growth of the alkylate market is being hampered by excess supply and thin blending margins for premium RBOB (Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygen Blending). During the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in April, suppliers stored excess alkylate with the intention of keeping it there until summer 2021. Furthermore, refineries have been operating in a staggered fashion, resulting in a slowdown in alkylate flows.

On the brighter side, the patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms who have been exposed to perfluorinated alkylate researchers in Denmark have studied substances (PFAS) chemicals. On the other hand, Alkylating chemotherapies have been found to be effective in the treatment of cancer. On the other hand, sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid are potentially dangerous and can cause corrosion-related accidents and costly processes in complex reactors. As a result, companies should emphasize the new solid acid catalyst technology, which is gaining traction as an alternative to HF alkylation and is displacing bottlenecks associated with liquid acid alkylation reactors. Reactor technology advancements are assisting in realising significant process benefits and achieving optimal alkylate product quality.

Recent Development

• In April 2021, The world's first commercial-scale ISOALKYTM process unit, which uses ionic liquids to produce alkylate, has been commissioned and started up by Chevron Corporation and Honeywell. The ISOALKYTM technology is a significant advancement in alkylation technology.
• In March 2021, Lummus Technology's CDAlky® C5 alkylation unit has started up at Valero's St. Charles Refinery in Norco, Louisiana. The alkylation complex has a capacity of 17,000 BPSD of alkylate products.

Global Alkylate Market Scope

The alkylate market is segmented on the basis of production process, end use and application. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze meagre growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

Production Process

• Sulfuric Acid Alkylation
• Hydrofluoric Acid Alkylation
• Others

End Use

• Aviation
• Automobile
• Agriculture
• Others

Application

• Solvents
• Surfactants and Synthetic Sulfonates
• Specialty Lubricants
• Functional Fluids
• Additives
• Others

Alkylate Market Regional Analysis/Insights

The alkylate market is analyzed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, production process, end use and application as referenced above.

The countries covered in the alkylate market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Israel, Egypt, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.

North America dominates the alkylate market in terms of market share and market revenue and will continue to flourish its dominance during the forecast period of 2022-2029. The market growth over this region is attributed to the high requirement in the automobile and aviation sectors and advancements in manufacturing units.

On the other hand, Asia-Pacific is estimated to show lucrative growth over the forecast period of 2022-2029, due to the requirement from highly advanced automobile and aviation industries in the region.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in market regulation that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points like down-stream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends and porter's five forces analysis, case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.   

Competitive Landscape and Alkylate Market Share Analysis

The alkylate market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies' focus related to alkylate market.

Some of the major players operating in the alkylate market are

• ExxonMobil Corporation (U.S.)
• Reliance Industries Limited (India)
• Marathon Petroleum Corporation (U.S.)
• Dupont (U.S.)
• PJSC Lukoil Oil Company (Russia)
• Valero (U.S.)
• Shell (UK)
• Chevron Corporation (U.S.)
• Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.)
• Janex S.A (Switzerland)
• SOLVAY (Belgium)
• Neste (Finland)
• Soltex Inc. (U.S.)
• Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd (Malaysia)
• BASF SE (Germany)
• Ashland Inc., (U.S.)
• Adrol  (U.S.)
• Koch Engineered Solutions (U.S.)
• Cosmique Pvt. Ltd. (India)