Dimethyl Ether Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Overview

Dimethyl Ether Market is forecast to reach $10.26 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 10% during 2020-2025. Dimethyl ether (DME), also known as methoxy methane, is an odorless and colorless gas. Dimethyl ether might be produced indirectly from natural gas or directly from methanol. In the first process, natural gas is reformed to synthesis gas, and then synthesis gas is converted into methanol or directly to dimethyl ether (DME). Rising consumer preferences coupled with growing environmental concerns shift for improved quality and less hazardous and is likely to propel dimethyl ether (DME) market. The report covers dimethyl ether market size by raw material and application, dimethyl ether market share by top 5 companies and also the market share by start-ups during the forecast period.

Report Coverage

The report: “Dimethyl Ether – Forecast (2020-2025)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Dimethyl Ether.

Key Takeaways

• DME industries long term growth is projected to be driven by its applications as a fuel for power generation and the diesel substitute.
• Rising demand for LPG in several countries will assist in raising the demand for dimethyl ether.
• Rising need to use cleaner energy generation source is likely to contribute significantly to the overall dimethyl ether market in the forecast period.
• DME is widely recommended as environmentally friendly aerosol and green refrigerant since it has zero ozone depletion potential and lower global warming potentials compared with traditional chlorofluorocarbons

Dimethyl Ether Market Segment Analysis - By Raw Material

Fossil fuel based segment held a significant share of the dimethyl ether market in 2019. This segment includes DME production using natural gas and coal. Abundant availability of natural gas recoverable reserves is the primary reason contributing to segment growth. These reserves can be utilized to produce a product for its widespread applications in LPG blending, aerosol propellants, transportation fuel and other industrial applications, including blowing agents for insulation panels, refrigerants, solvent extracting agents and fuel for welding & cutting. Easy availability of natural gas, owing to technological advancements, which is attributed to high R&D investment in the oil and gas industry, will help attain promising gains in the fossil fuel-based market by 2025.

Dimethyl Ether Market Segment Analysis - By Application

LPG blending segment held a significant share of the dimethyl ether market in 2019 One of the major reasons responsible for the increasing dimethyl ether demand for LPG blending is the pressing need to reduce harmful emissions, which has been increasing, owing to the rising population primarily in Asia-Pacific. According to the World Energy Council, total recoverable coal reserves in China are 80.2 thousand Mtoe (Million Tons of Oil Equivalent) in 2018, which will help in reducing imports and meet the rising DME demand in the region at cost-effective prices.

LPG used for cooking and heating for domestic purposes has been a major cause of increasing harmful pollutants in the environment, which can be condensed by LPG blending with dimethyl ether, which is added up to a volume concentration of 15%-20%, and it is feasible to add value-adding benefits to LPG use across domestic purposes.

Dimethyl Ether Market Segment Analysis - By Geography

Asia Pacific dominated the dimethyl ether market with a share of more than 70% during the forecast period. High product demand in Asia-Pacific is attributed to its widespread applications in LPG blending, which is gradually gaining momentum to attain environmental sustainability. Improving the regulatory framework in the favor of the environment in the region is encouraging product applications in LPG blending to reduce particulate matter, soot and other pollutants to improve the overall air quality in the long run.

Constantly growing automobile industry in China will drive the dimethyl ether demand over the forecast period. Also, the easy availability of coal reserves in China will provide benefits to the regional market.  Moreover, there are certain environmental regulations set by the government in the region which will impact the DME development positively. These regulations are mainly against the harmful emission which is estimated to drive the overall dimethyl ether market.

Dimethyl Ether Market Drivers

• Rising demand from automotive industry

Rising regulations against high emission fuels in the automotive sector are contributing to the overall DME demand as it has a higher cetane number which provides a better ignition value to ultimately reduce pollutants from the environment. Constantly growing automobile industry in APAC is expected to drive the dimethyl ether demand over the forecast period.

Dimethyl Ether Market Challenges

• Fluctuations in prices of raw materials

Dimethyl ether is generated from various raw materials such as methanol, natural gas, coal, and biomass. Increasing prices of coal are expected to hinder the dimethyl ether market. Coal prices increased by 1.52 USD/MT or 2.18% since the beginning of 2020, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity.

Dimethyl Ether Market Landscape

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the dimethyl ether market. In 2019, the market of dimethyl ether materials have been consolidated by the top five players accounting for xx% of the dimethyl ether market share. Major top 10 companies of dimethyl ether market Akzo Nobel N.V., The Chemours Company, Mitsubishi Corporation, Grillo-Werke AG, Oberon Fuels, Royal Dutch Shell Plc., China Energy Limited, Ferrostal GmbH., Jiutai Energy Group, and Zagros Petrochemical Company among others.

Geographical Expansion

• In Sept 2015, Mitsubishi Corporation in association with its subsidiaries has set up methanol and dimethyl ether plant in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015. The plant required USD 1 billion investment with a capacity to produce 100,000 tons/annum of methanol and 20,000 tons/annum of dimethyl ether. This move was intended to meet the demand for the generation of clean energy fuel in the country.