US Demand For Disinfectant and Antimicrobial Chemicals to Reach $1.2B in 2013
Demand for disinfectant and antimicrobial chemicals is projected to increase 3.6% annually to $1.2 billion in 2013. Although this represents a substantial deceleration in value gains from the 2003-2008 period, growth in volume will accelerate due to rebounding production levels in key industrial markets such as coatings and plastics. The strong value gains in the previous five-year period were due in large part to price runups from 2005 to 2008, when the price of crude oil and other raw materials soared. These and other trends are presented in “Disinfectant & Antimicrobial Chemicals,” a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.
Demand for disinfectant chemicals in industrial, institutional and commercial, and consumer markets is expected to grow, despite considerable scientific disagreement about the necessity of using disinfectant chemicals in many of their current applications. Gains in the consumer market—the fastest-growing overall—will be driven by fears of foodborne and other pathogens, as disinfectant active ingredients are being added to many traditional cleaning products that have not typically contained such ingredients. In the health care market, there is broad agreement that aggressive infection control programs are necessary. As a result, it will remain one of the largest outlets for these products.
Use of these chemicals in antimicrobial additive applications, such as in paints, plastics or textile products, is less controversial. These applica