Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a versatile chemical used in pulp and paper, textile, pharmaceutical, electronic, dairy (food), chemical, aquaculture, water treatment, home care, textile and other industries. The global hydrogen peroxide market has shown stable growth during previous years and has all prospects to exhibit a steady growth rate in future with output exceeding 5 mln tons by 2019. The market is mainly driven by the pulp and paper industry, which is the key end-use for hydrogen peroxide. A very promising end-use is the production of propylene oxide via the HPPO process. The HPPO technology was developed by Evonik and Uhde industries, and later embraced by such companies as SK Chemicals, Dow and BASF. The fastest rates of H2O2 consumption growth are demonstrated by such regions as Asia Pacific and Latin America, which accounted for 52% and 7% of global hydrogen peroxide consumption, respectively, in 2014. The total hydrogen peroxide consumption was 4,336,000 tons in 2014.
Hydrogen peroxide: structure of the global consumption by region, 2014
In 2014, top five H2O2-producing countries included China, the USA, Belgium, Thailand and Canada. On the corporate level, the major producers were as follows: Solvay, Evonik Industries, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co Inc., Arkema and Qingdao Lasheng Co.Ltd. Apart from Qingdao Lasheng Co.Ltd, their production capacities were significantly scattered among different countries and continents, thus making them truly global multinational players. For instance, Solvay operates peroxide facilities in Australia, Belgium, China, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Italy, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the USA (in addition, Solvay has shares in various H2O2-manufacturing companies around the globe, like Saudi Hydrogen Peroxide). On the product level, ultra-high purity hydrogen peroxide grades (used in semiconductor manufacturing) or disinfection/decontamination grades (used in pharmaceutical industry) look particularly promising.
More information on the hydrogen peroxide market can be found in the insightful research study “Hydrogen Peroxide (HP) 2015 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2019”.