Demand for Homecare Products is Driving the Growth of Surfactants

Surfactants are one of the most multipurpose products of the chemical industry. Surfactants are basically a compound that reduces the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or between a liquid and a solid. . They are used in various industrial applications such as household detergents, drilling muds, food items, and pharmaceuticals. The chemical may be used as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants. The growth of the surfactants market is mainly driven by the growing demand from personal care, home care, and food processing among others. 

Surfactants can be mainly classified into Cationic surfactants, Anionic surfactants, Non-ionic surfactants, Amphoteric surfactants among others. Anionic and Non-ionic surfactants are most commonly used surfactants. Anionic surfactants are mainly used in modern cleaning products while Cationic surfactants are mainly used as an anti-static agent and finishing agent in fabric softener. Non-ionic surfactants are used in many applications such as wetting, spreading, emulsifying, dispersing and foaming agents and Amphoteric surfactants are used as the antistatic agents of synthetic fiber and metal rust agent. 

Demand for Anionic Surfactants, supported by consumption in companies manufacturing laundry detergents, electric dishwashing detergents, and in some shampoos, is the largest while demand for Non-ionic surfactants, supported by consumption in companies manufacturing soaps and detergents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and industrial cleaners, is the second largest in 2018.

North America, supported by strong household income, dominated the Surfactants market with a share of 40% in 2018; while Asia Pacific region is projected to become the fastest-growing market from 2018 to 2024. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for around 25% of the total market share in terms of value. The growth in the Asian Surfactants market is supported by growing demand in emerging economies such as China and India.

Some of the major players in the Global Surfactants market include AkzoNobel N V, BASF SE, Croda International Plc, Huntsman International LLC., Kao Corporation, Evonik Industries AG and Stepan Company.