LAB Market Trends
Category Intelligence on LAB covers the following
- Information relating to market, supply, cost, and pricing analysis
- Hard to find data on cost and TCO models, supplier details, and performance benchmarks
- Macroeconomic and regional trends impacting cost, supply, and other market dynamics
- Category-specific negotiation and sourcing advice
Industry Outlook & Drivers
Global Market Outlook on LAB
Currently, APAC accounts for ~50 percent of the global LAB capacity. While APAC is the largest demand market for LAB, MEA has a cheaper feedstock advantage, which positions it favourable for exports to other regions .Present global installed capacity of HLAS (Captive + Merchant) is around 5.9 MMT, and is sufficient to meet the current demand levels of HLAS.
Demand Market Outlook
Increasing demand for detergents, especially in the developing regions like China, India, LATAM, etc., due to growing disposable income and infrastructural growth is expected to drive the demand for LAB and LAS
Demand from North America and Europe is expected to remain flat or reduce slightly due to the regional shift from powder to liquid detergents, which consumes less LAS, leading to reduced demand for LAB. Liquid detergents consumer ~40 percent less LAS compared to powder detergents
Industry Best Practices
LAB Procurement: LAB buyers in Europe and North America currently procure 40 percent of their requirements from the spot market with the rest being contracted with major suppliers. Whereas in APAC, dependence on spot is only 20 percent, due to LAB availability issues.
Global Market Size-LAB
- LAB and LAS prices witnessed a decline of 25–30 percent across the globe due to the drop in crude oil prices. However, the overall demand from the home care sector has increased during the same period
- Crude prices have recovered, compared to the price levels in 2015, and is expected to remain in the price range of $40–60/barrel during the forecasted period. As a result, despite the growth in LAB and LAS demand, the market value might be less compared to 2014
- LAS, and in turn LAB demand, will be mostly driven by industrial and household cleaners, with APAC accounting for majority of the growth during the forecasted period
