Super Absorbent Polymers

Super Absorbent Polymers Market Analysis and Global Outlook

MARKET OVERVIEW

Global Capacity: 4.29 MMT (2022E)

Global Demand: 3.49 MMT (2022E)

Global Demand CAGR: 5–6 percent (2023–2025F)

• The global SAP demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8 percent Y-o-Y until 2025, mainly driven by APAC, MEA, and LATAM

• The growing demand for disposable baby diapers is a key driver, which occupies about 76 percent of the global SAP demand

• The APAC will continue to be the net exporter of SAP, as buyers will rely on the supply of SAP from Japan, China, and Rep. of Korea

Global Market Size: SAP

The global market size of SAP is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8 percent Y-o-Y to reach $10.9 billion by 2025, mainly driven by the steady growth in demand from the personal hygiene industry. Increasing birth rates in emerging countries, like China and India, and growing old age population will continue to drive the demand of SAP in the future.

• APAC and North America are the key regions for SAP sales globally

–China is the largest market for SAP sales in the APAC region

–The US is the largest producer and consumer of SAP in the North American region

–China, India, and the US alone account for about 55–60 percent of the SAP sales globally

• Personal care (baby diaper, adult incontinence, and feminine hygiene products) will be the major demand driver, as it accounts for about 90-95 percent of the market

• Other downstream applications like agriculture and pharmaceuticals, in the recent years, have been growing at a faster rate and are expected to witness a sales growth of about 6–7 percent Y-o-Y until 2025

Global Capacity–Demand Analysis

The global demand for SAP is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.8 percent Y-o-Y until 2025, mainly driven by the demand from disposable baby diapers, which constitutes to about 76 percent of the global demand.

Market Outlook

Sufficient Capacity Until 2025

• The current installed capacity with the upcoming capacity in Asia is sufficient to meet the global demand of SAP until 2025. Supply constraints of feedstock acrylic acid were observed during H1 2022, due to tight supply conditions in the global market. SAP supply conditions are expected to improve during Q4 2022

• SAP capacity expansions are planned in Asia during 2023, owing to the improvement in demand for SAP from the baby diapers segment, due to a steady rise in birth rates

Increasing Per Capita Disposable Income

• Increasing awareness on disposable baby diapers, increase in disposable income, and purchasing power of consumers in the growing economies, like Brazil, China, and India, will be the key growth drivers of disposable baby diapers

SAP Supply Scenario and Capacity Expansions in the Future

• SAP suppliers are are expected to gradually increase their output, especially in Asia, as the demand levels in the region are expected to improve steadily from disposable baby diaper

• Future capacity additions are expected in China, Indonesia, and Taiwan during 2023

Industry Drivers and Constraints : Super Absorbent Polymers

Drivers

• Awareness on Personal Hygiene: Developing countries, like Brazil, China, and India, are witnessing an increase in awareness in the personal hygiene products, thereby driving the demand for SAP

• Rising Demand for Baby Diapers in China: Relaxation of two-child policy to three-child by the Chinese government is expected to fuel the growth of baby disposable diaper market until 2025. This new policy has shifted the focus of the diaper market towards China

• Increasing Annual Disposable Income: Increasing overall annual disposable income in urban households in China and India, coupled with low penetration rate of diaper, is expected to drive the demand for SAP in the future

Constraints

• Environmental Concerns: There are certain environmental concerns that are associated with the utilization of SAP, which is a key growth constraint. To counter such issues, few companies, have started their R&D on bio-materials, such as cellulose and starch. However, few suppliers have already opted out from this project owing to high production cost and low feedstock availability

• High Penetration Rate and Cloth Diapers: High penetration rate of baby diapers in the development market and weak macro-economic conditions have affected the consumption of SAP in the past few years. Also, consumers are shifting toward cloth diapers, made of green raw materials, like aloe vera, to avoid skin rashes, which is a major disruption to the industry

Global Demand by Application : Super Absorbent Polymers

Increasing birth rate in the growing economies, like Brazil, India, China, and low penetration rate of diapers in these countries will continue to drive the demand of SAP until 2025.

SAP Downstream Demand Outlook

• SAP demand will be mainly driven by the demand from disposable baby diapers from emerging nations, like China and India, as they are expected to witness a steady growth rate of about 8–10 percent in the future

• The relaxation of two-child to three-child policy is expected to fuel the demand growth of baby diapers over the next few years. Increasing awareness on personal hygiene and a rapid shift from cloth nappies to baby diapers are expected to drive the demand growth of SAP until 2025

• SAP demand from water treatment, agriculture, and medical applications are expected to grow at about 5–6 percent Y-o-Y until 2025

• Increasing demand from these segments are not expected to affect the CPG industry, as:

–Most of the buyers procure from spot market or engage with small-volume SAP manufacturers

–These segments together account only for about 5-7 percent of the global SAP demand

Why You Should Buy This Report

The report consists of an analysis of the super absorbent polymer market size, super absorbent polymer price trends, demand- supply analysis and trade dynamics of global and regional markets.  The report also details all the historical trends in the global super absorbent polymer price and the reasons for the same. The different geographic regions and their inner dynamics such as price trends, import-export details as well as market maturity are given. The major exporting countries and the countries that they export to and their share are also studied. For importing countries, the major countries that import from are also given. If there are any peculiarities that differentiate one region from the global Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) market, they are detailed.  It gives Porter’s five forces analysis of North America, Europe, and APAC markets.

The cost analysis section of the report studies the global super absorbent polymer price from the global as well as regional perspective. The report lists out super absorbent polymer industry drivers and constraints, super absorbent polymer price analysis, and gives the SWOT analysis of major suppliers like Nippon Shokubai, Evonik Industries, BASF SE, etc. It gives the super absorbent polymer market price, cost structure breakdown and lists the best sourcing and contract models in the super absorbent polymer market.