According to analysis and prediction by SRI Consulting, the global environmental protection catalyst market this year is worth about US$5 billion and is growing at an annual rate of 4.5% to 5.0%. At present, about 90% of environmental protection catalyst sales come from automotive exhaust gas purification catalysts, and the other is industrial gas catalytic purification. Both Engelhard and JM of the United Kingdom took away 35% of the market share of environmental protection catalysts, with Umicore accounting for about 20%, and the remainder being divided by Catalytics Solutions (CSI), Delphi Catalysts, and Southern Chemicals of Germany.
Engelhardt is the largest supplier of automotive catalysts and is currently increasing production capacity throughout the country. Last year it expanded its automotive catalyst production facilities in Shanghai. At the same time, the company has also added an engine lab in Germany and an R&D center in China. The new products it develops are diesel oxidation catalysts that meet stringent diesel emission regulations and reduce palladium usage.
In the first half of this year, JM’s sales of diesel automotive catalysts in Europe increased significantly. The company recently expanded its production capacity of automotive catalyst plants in Shanghai and established a plant in Japan. It is expected that sales in Japan will increase in the coming years. The company expects that sales of heavy-duty diesel catalysts will increase further in the future. In addition, JM companies are also involved in the emission control system of chemical production facilities. Currently, China and other countries are particularly urgent to control the catalyst technology required for the emission of halogenated hydrocarbons from the by-products of purified terephthalic acid, which has been adopted in India, Iran, Pakistan and other countries. Similar catalyst technology.
Umicore, another major manufacturer of environmentally friendly catalysts, analyzes that the strong growth in the Chinese auto market will drive demand for automotive catalysts across Asia. At present, the company is further expanding the Asian market, investing 20 million euros in Suzhou's automotive catalyst production plant in June to put into production.
CSI has entered the ranks of three major environmental catalyst manufacturers. The company's low-cost automotive catalyst technology system, MPC, can significantly reduce the use of platinum group metals. The system uses nanotechnology, has high durability and economy, and has a wide range of applications. CSI has sold MPC to catalytic converter manufacturers and automakers including Ford, General Motors and Honda.
At present, the Southern German Chemical Company is also developing new environmentally-friendly catalyst technology. The company acquired coating technology for diesel exhaust catalytic purification from WACKER chemical company in February 2004, and incorporated it into its energy and environmental business unit, and with the automotive industry. Manufacturers collaborate to quickly bring this coating technology to the production stage.
New Emissions Regulations Produce Catalysts New Markets Rapid Action Producers Enter China
The demand for tail gas purification brought about by the rapid development of the world automobile industry, and a series of new emission limitation regulations faced by other industries, including chemical industry, have made the catalyst manufacturers with keen senses discovered the “cake†of the environmental protection catalyst market. Among them, EU, Japan, the United States, and other developed regions, as well as developing Latin America and Asia, will be the catalysts for the growth of environmental protection catalysts. For this reason, major environmental protection catalyst companies have launched competitions in this market, and several rapidly leading production companies have taken action. Business has entered China.