Highly reactive polyisobutylene (HR-PIB) is an important intermediate used in the production of high-performance fuel and lubricant additives, such as dispersants for engine oils or fuel detergents. The high-performance lubricant additives allow for more fuel-efficient engine designs.
In 2020, Asia Pacific held the largest revenue share of the highly reactive polyisobutylene market. The lubricants & grease segment is the largest consumer of HR-PIB in Asia Pacific region. The proliferation of the automotive sector in the region is boosting the demand for hydraulic fluid and lubricants, thereby propelling the need for HR-PIB. Further, the increase in industrialization and construction in Asia Pacific is driving the demand for machinery and equipment in the related manufacturing facilities.
In 2020, various industries had to slow down their operations due to disruptions in supply chains caused by the shutdown of national and international boundaries, which led to low demand for HR-PIB. The pandemic caused disturbances in manufacturing processes due to restrictions imposed by government authorities in various countries on headcount on work floors and transportation, which made challenging for employees to commute to and from the worksites. HR-PIB finds major applications in the manufacturing of high-performance fuel and lubricant additives. The decreased demand for fuel from various industries hindered the consumption of fuel additives, eventually hampering the sales of HR-PIB. However, as the economies started reviving their operations in 2021, the demand for HR-PIB also began to rise gradually.
HR-PIB is an important intermediate that finds application in the production of high-performance fuel and lubricant additives. Due to its highly reactive nature, it is preferred over conventional polyisobutylene in the production of additives. The main function of lubricant additives is to improve the properties of the base stock under different operating conditions. Moreover, high-performance lubricant additives support more fuel-efficient engine designs. Dispersants are lubricant additives that help prevent sludge, varnish, and other deposit formation on critical surfaces. The demand for HR-PIB is growing in the industrial synthesis of dispersants for automotive engine oils. The presence of strong additive manufacturing bases in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific makes them prime consumers of HR-PIB. Hence, the increasing use of HR-PIB in the manufacturing of high-performance fuel and lubricant additives boosts the market growth.
Based on application, the highly reactive polyisobutylene market has been segmented into adhesives/sealants, lubricants & grease, hydraulic fluids, metal working fluids, and others. The lubricants & grease segment held the largest market share in 2020. Lubricants such as engine oils, transmission oils, gear oils, greases, and compressor oils are highly consumed in the automotive, aircraft, marine, and machinery industries. HR-PIB helps enhance the overall performance of lubricants.
TPC Group; RB PRODUCTS INC.; BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn. Bhd; Shandong Hongrui New Material Technology Co., Ltd; Daelim Co., Ltd.; Chevron Corporation; The Lubrizol Corporation; KEMAT Polybutenes; Weifang Binhai Petro-chem Co., Ltd.; and Nelson Brothers Incorporated are among the key market players in the highly reactive polyisobutylene market. Players operating in the highly reactive polyisobutylene market are highly focused on the development of high-quality and innovative products to meet the customer’s requirements.
The regional trends and factors influencing the Highly Reactive Polyisobutylene Market throughout the forecast period have been thoroughly explained by the analysts at Insight Partners. This section also discusses Highly Reactive Polyisobutylene Market segments and geography across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America.
| Report Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Market size in 2021 | US$ 508.77 Million |
| Market Size by 2028 | US$ 697.44 Million |
| Global CAGR (2021 - 2028) | 4.6% |
| Historical Data | 2019-2020 |
| Forecast period | 2022-2028 |
| Segments Covered |
By Application
|
| Regions and Countries Covered | North America
|
| Market leaders and key company profiles |
The Highly Reactive Polyisobutylene Market market is growing rapidly, driven by increasing end-user demand due to factors such as evolving consumer preferences, technological advancements, and greater awareness of the product's benefits. As demand rises, businesses are expanding their offerings, innovating to meet consumer needs, and capitalizing on emerging trends, which further fuels market growth.
Market players density refers to the distribution of firms or companies operating within a particular market or industry. It indicates how many competitors (market players) are present in a given market space relative to its size or total market value.
Major Companies operating in the Highly Reactive Polyisobutylene Market are:
Disclaimer: The companies listed above are not ranked in any particular order.
Production techniques and catalysts used to synthesize HR-PIB have become an important subject for research and development activities in the last few decades. Research and development activities are mostly focusing on new polymerization techniques with greater potential advantages than traditional techniques. Various research groups are also actively investigating new catalysts for synthesizing highly reactive polyisobutylene; this further underlines the demand for different polymerization techniques than the existing ones. In addition, HR-PIB is gaining significant popularity in different downstream functionalization reactions due to its greater reactivity than its conventional counterparts. These factors are likely to lead to new future trends in the highly reactive polyisobutylene market.
Players operating in the highly reactive polyisobutylene market are increasingly focusing on ramping up their production capacities to meet future customer demands by making significant investments. They are implementing plans to set up additional capacities of highly reactive polyisobutylene. In 2019, Saudi Aramco and Total announced an agreement with Daelim, a South Korean petrochemical company, to build a new polyisobutylene facility. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between these companies, Daelim is planning to build a new state-of-the-art PIB plant with a capacity of 80,000 tons. The new plant is expected to come on-stream in 2024. This specialty chemical project will be using Daelim’s PIB proprietary technology to produce a wide range of products, from conventional PIB (CPIB) to HR-PIB, in a single plant. Hence, the growing focus of market players to escalate their capacities of HR-PIB production will offer huge growth opportunities to the market players in the coming years.
Increasing use of highly reactive polyisobutylene in high-performance fuel and lubricant additive production and proliferation of the automotive sector are the key factors driving the highly reactive polyisobutylene market during the forecast period. Highly reactive polyisobutylene is an important intermediate that finds application in the production of high-performance fuel and lubricant additives, such as fuel detergents or dispersants for engine oils. Due to its highly reactive nature, highly reactive polyisobutylene is preferred over conventional polyisobutylene in additive production. The demand for highly reactive polyisobutylene is growing in the industrial synthesis of dispersants for automotive engine oils. Moreover, highly reactive polyisobutylene finds applications in the production of fuel and lubricant additives, sealants, adhesives, and greases, among others, the flourishment of the automotive sector, in turn, creates a high demand for the same, thereby boosting the market growth.
Based on application, the lubricant and grease segment led the global highly reactive polyisobutylene market in 2020. Lubricants such as engine oils, transmission oils, gear oils, greases, and compressor oils are highly consumed in automotive, aircraft, marine, and machinery industries. highly reactive polyisobutylene is used as an intermediate for lubricant additive manufacturing. It helps to enhance the overall performance of lubricant and grease which is propelling the segment growth.
The major players operating in the global highly reactive polyisobutylene market are TPC Group; RB PRODUCTS INC.; BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn. Bhd; Shandong Hongrui New Material Technology Co., Ltd; Daelim Co., Ltd.; Chevron Corporation; The Lubrizol Corporation; KEMAT Polybutenes; Weifang Binhai Petro-chem Co., Ltd.; and Nelson Brothers Incorporated.
During the forecast period, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to account for the largest share of the global highly reactive polyisobutylene market. Asia-Pacific region comprises several developed and developing economies, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, among others. The region is experiencing significant growth in automotive, which is boosting the demand for hydraulic fluid and lubricants which directly boosts demand for highly reactive polyisobutylene. Further, the increase in industrialization and construction in the region is driving the demand of machineries and equipment for manufacturing facilities, hydraulic fluids and sealants are widely used in these industries.