Attapulgite Market Size By Product (Colloidal, Sorptive), By End-User (Cat Litter Absorbent, Oil & Gas, Agriculture, Paints & Coatings, Medical & Pharmaceutical), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 – 2024

Attapulgite Market Size

Attapulgite Market size will exceed USD 600 million by 2024, gaining at more than 8% CAGR. Developments in drilling activities all over the globe on the account of booming construction and oil & gas industries will likely have a propelling effect on the overall attapulgite market in the upcoming years.
 

The product finds extensive application in salt contaminated mud for offshore drilling activities owing to its superior suspending qualities. It is used to decrease the slurry weight and increase the slurry volume. The dissolved salt quantities in the slurry do not have any adverse effects on the product properties. Attapulgite based suspending agent is highly compatible with slurries with granular, fibrous, and flake-type materials. Global oil and gas rigs count stood at over 2,000 by the end of 2015 and will likely witness major advancements in drilling technologies due to increasing demand.
 

Strict mining regulations in the U.S. may hinder the global attapulgite market growth as the country possesses a huge deposit of clay mineral. Regulations pertaining to environmental standards, land policies, waste disposal, substance toxicities, as well as safety standards mandated by OSHA and the Department of Labor will likely affect the industry in the coming years. For instance, Section 378.403(6), Florida Statutes, has defined fuller's earth as clay that possesses a high absorption capacity. It largely consists of palygorskite or montmorillonite, and also includes attapulgite. The Florida Legislature mandated reclamation of lands mined for attapulgite after July 1975. Such regulations may restrict the entry of new market participants.
 

Attapulgite Market Analysis

Based on product, it has been broadly classified into colloidal and sorptive grades based on its chemical and physical characteristics. Colloidal grades find a wide range of applications in oil and water base foundry sand binders, oil-well drilling, as a paint thickener and gelling agent, polishes, for adhesive viscosity control, as a raw material for cat litter absorbents, as well as in laundry washing powders. This segment accounted for over a third of the global attapulgite market in 2015 and will hold sway throughout the forecast span with a CAGR of more than 9%.
 

Sorptive grade products are mainly used in petroleum refining, neutralizing of vegetable oils and fats, agro-based industries as carriers for powdered agrochemicals, intestinal and antidiarrheal medicines, and floor absorbents. This product segment accounted for close to a third of the global attapulgite market at will have a sluggish growth rate in comparison to colloidal grades, losing its market share due to wider application sectors of the latter type. Non-flammability and non-hazardous nature of the product make it a suitable additive in industrial cleaners.
 

The clay mineral finds a vast application segment in end-user industries including cat litter absorbents, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas, paints & coatings, and several others. Cat litter absorbents industry recorded a significant share of the global attapulgite market share, registering more than USD 100 million in 2015. This segment will likely flourish at a decent CAGR of more than 8% in the forecast span owing to the increasing trends of petting cats all over the world. Growing awareness about the feline family, coupled with development of environment friendly and quick acting litter absorbents based on the clay mineral will catalyze the overall market growth in the coming years.
 

Heavy amount of oil & gas drilling activities around the world will also have a propelling effect on the product demand, and this segment accounted for over a quarter of the overall attapulgite market size. This segment will likely flourish at close to 9% CAGR in the forecast span, owing to its extensive application in offshore drilling rigs with the mud salinity level more than that of the sea water without affecting the filtration properties of the mud. Its superiority to other additives such as bentonite in presence of contaminants such as salts, calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate gives the product an additional advantage.
 

North America registered a significant 2015 share with more than 33% will likely have a healthy growth by a CAGR of more than 7% throughout the forecast span. Vast deposits of the mineral in the U.S. lead to easy availability of the product as raw materials in several regional end-user industries. The clay mineral is commonly found in the southeastern United States.
 

Increasing end-user demand in the Asia Pacific, due to increasing industrialization, will have a notable influence on the global attapulgite market in the coming years. The region registered over USD 80 million in 2015 and is set to flourish at over 9% CAGR in the forecast span. Asia Pacific will likely overshadow North America in terms of product demand by the end of 2024.
 

Attapulgite Market Share

Attapulgite industry competitive landscape is highly consolidated with the presence of multinational giants such as Other important market participants include:

• Halliburton
• Hudson
• Ashapura Group
• Geohellas
• KPL International
• Oil-Dri Corporation of America
• Jaxon Filtration
• Russell Finex
• Gujarat Minechem
• Anhui Mingmei Minchem

 Anhui Boshuo, and several others.BASF SEActive Mineral International, with a combined share of close to 50% of the industry.
 

Active Minerals and BASF will likely hold sway the market through strategic process improvements, increase in production capacities, and acquisitions. BASF, for instance, announced the completion of investments to expand the milling and product packaging capabilities for coarse and fine gel materials in August 2016.
 

Industry Background

Attapulgite is a type of fuller’s earth and has a high surface area and porosity. Global industry will be massively influenced by the increasing drilling operations in the oil rigs and oil wells owing to depleting petroleum reserves. The product finds extensive application in offshore rigs due to its high tolerance for salinity. The product’s superior absorbing abilities also provide other application areas in pharmaceutical and pet care industries. It prevents bacterial growth by absorbing the moisture effectively in a very short time.
 

Increasing drilling activities in the Middle East and African countries will boost the attapulgite market in the region in the coming years. Also, industrial boom in Asia Pacific countries will enhance the product demand, which is witnessing increasing usage in industrial cleaning, floor absorbents, anti-caking agents, and as a flowability additive to dry fire extinguisher powders.
 

Attapulgite market report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of volume in kilo tons & revenue in USD million from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:

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By Product

• Colloidal grade
• Sorptive grade

By Application

• Cat litter absorbent
• Oil and gas
• Agriculture
• Paints and coatings
• Medical and pharmaceutical
• Others

The above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following:

By Region

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
• MEA
  • South Africa