Auto catalyst Market Analysis

Global Auto Catalyst Market Overview

Auto Catalyst Market Size was valued at USD 13.00 billion in 2023. The Auto Catalyst industry is projected to grow from USD 13.67 Billion in 2024 to USD 20.84 billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.40% during the forecast period (2024 - 2032). The growing population and the rising per capita income in several developed countries have presented opportunities for a large mass of consumers to invest in sophisticated transport systems are likely to propel the growth of the market.

Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review



Auto Catalyst Market Trends

• Growing demand for better tools to reduce carbon emissions to boost the market growth

United States vehicle emission standards are set through a combination of legislative mandates enacted by Congress through Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments from 1970 onwards, and executive regulations managed nationally by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and more recently along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These standards cover common motor vehicle air pollution, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate emissions, and newer versions have incorporated fuel economy standards.

Moreover, the implementation of emission standards such as Euro 5 and Euro 6 is expected to substantially add to the growth of the auto catalyst market in the region. According to the European Union, a new regulation was passed in 2017, wherein more reliable emission tests have been implemented such as Real driving Emissions (RDE) and World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) for the light motor vehicle. This, in turn, is anticipated to be a contributing factor to the growth of the auto catalyst market in the European region. The Auto Catalyst industry is seeing significant investments from manufacturers due to its promising growth prospects.

January 2024 – BASF Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS) – a standalone, fully owned part of BASF – and Heraeus Precious Metals have begun operations of their novel joint venture (JV) facility, BASF Heraeus Metal Resource (BHMR) situated in Pinghu, China, which recuperates precious metals from consumed automotive catalysts. The facility is a 50:50 joint venture between the two organizations, and as per the partners, it involved a mid-double-digit million Euro investment. On an vicinity of 32,000 m2 and with nearly 100 employees, BHMR has a recycling capacity of around 10,000 t/y of autocatalysts. The senior vice president of Precious Metal Services and Recycling, ECMS, Tim Ingle, said that the joint venture will use ECMS's pyrometallurgy recycling technology, offering customers state-of-the-art technology for the recovery of precious metals. He further added that China is a crucial market for ECMS as one of the biggest consumers of valuable metals, and BHMR will reuse precious metals in China, backing circularity and allowing the customers to lower their CO2 footprint. Heraeus clarified in a statement that China depends massively on imported precious metals because of the limited domestic supplies. Therefore, recycling is necessary to fulfill the nation's requirements, especially essential metals like platinum, rhodium, and palladium, which are used in several industry sectors such as petrochemicals, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals.

Figure 1: Carbon Dioxide Emission in the commercial sector in the year 2020 (Million Metric Tons)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Additionally, Stringent government regulations to restrain pollution surged the demand for automotive catalysts in recent times. For instance, Euro 6d-TEMP was implemented in September 2019, which limits the NOx emission to 85.8mg/km for petrol cars and 114.4mg/km for diesel cars. The demand for Auto Catalyst is also projected to be boosted by governments' growing investments in commercial buildings for infrastructure development in several nations, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The Auto Catalyst market is projected to expand because of the stringent emission standards implemented by governments across the world. Additionally, Increasing regulations pertaining emission control limits implemented by China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to curb vehicular pollution is anticipated to boost the demand for autocatalyst in this region. Moreover, these regulations will limit the use of increased PGMs in the coating of an autocatalyst substrate. This, in turn, is likely to make auto catalyst expensive in the coming years and, therefore, increase market revenue share. Environmental Regulation another factor driving the growth of the Auto Catalyst market revenue.

Auto Catalyst Market Segment Insights

Auto Catalyst Application Insights

The Auto Catalyst market segmentation, based on application, includes light-duty vehicle diesel, light-duty vehicle gasoline, heavy-duty vehicle. The light-duty vehicle diesel segment held the majority share in 2021 contribution to around ~40-50% in respect to the Auto Catalyst market revenue. This is primarily owing to the rising uses of LDVs are preferred mainly in the European Union countries such as Germany, France, and Spain. Countries, such as India and South Korea, also contribute toward significant demand for diesel-powered LDVs, majority of the Auto Catalyst produced in the U.S. in 2020, LDVs had major share.

July 2021: BASF SE has announced the acquisition of Zodiac Enterprises LLC in Caldwell, Texas of United States. With this acquisition, the company has expanded its chemical catalyst recycling capacity and capability. Moreover, the site recycles precious metals from industrial scrap, primarily chemical catalysts. Furthermore, this investment allows the company to meet the increased customer demand for recycling spent chemical and automotive catalysts.

October 2019 Umicore inaugurated its new production facility for fuel cell catalysts in SongDo Incheon City (Seoul area), Korea, close to Umicore’s technology development center for catalysts. The facility will support the growth of Hyundai Motors Group and other automotive customers.

Figure 2: Auto Catalyst Market, by Application, 2021 & 2030 (USD Billion)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Additionally, Heavy-duty vehicles include trucks, tractors, tankers, buses, and coaches. These vehicles are mostly diesel-powered and require larger Platinum Group Metals (PGM) content to convert harmful exhaust gases into less noxious gases in comparison to other vehicles. Therefore, the price of autocatalysts used in this segment is much higher in contrast to that used in light-duty vehicles. This likely to drive sector growth throughout the projection period.

Auto Catalyst Application Insights

Based on Application, the Auto Catalyst industry has been segmented light-duty vehicle diesel, light-duty vehicle gasoline, heavy-duty vehicle. light-duty vehicle diesel held the largest segment share in 2021, s. In addition, in North America and Europe and the execution of new rules & regulations governing vehicle emissions in the emerging countries of Asia Pacific are some of the factors projected to augment the auto catalyst market over the forecast period. The increase in per capita ownership of vehicles is another factor, which is expected to boost the demand for autocatalysts. Thus, it is anticipated that during the forecast period, rising stringent regulations of the worldwide Auto Catalyst market, is expected to bolster at a CAGR of 2.91% during the assessed timeline.

The fourth fastest growing segment in the Auto Catalyst industry is rubber & plastics. High grade clays used in rubber, such as ball clay and Auto Catalyst, have a low content of coarse particle defined as greater than 44m. The typical particle size analysis of Auto Catalyst used in rubber is 99.5% less than 44m and between 50% and 97% minus 10m. A higher proportion of coarse particles will reduce the tensile strength and result in premature flex-cracking, the cause of dielectric failure in insulating rubbers. Coarse particles also cause premature wear and tear on mixing machines and extruder dies.

Auto Catalyst Regional Insights

By Region, the study segments the market into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. Asia-pacific Auto Catalyst market accounted for USD 5.78 billion in 2021 and is expected to exhibit an 3.6% CAGR during the study period. This is attributed to increasing automobile production in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan, and China owing to the rising population and growing consumer disposable income.

Further, the major countries studied are: The U.S, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil.

Figure 3: AUTO CATALYST MARKET SHARE BY REGION 2021 (%)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Europe Auto Catalyst market accounts for the second-largest market share due to the region's increasing production of motor vehicles, the market is expanding. The presence of Auto Catalyst deposits in the nation is another important factor driving Auto Catalyst expansion. Further, the Germany Auto Catalyst market held the largest market share, and the Russia Auto Catalyst market was the fastest growing market in the European region

The Asia-Pacific Auto Catalyst Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2022 to 2030. This is due the countries in the region have a lot of Auto Catalyst reserves. In addition, Japan, China, and India are among the top nations that produce vehicles. Additionally, over the past few years, product consumption has expanded due to the growth of ceramic clusters, particularly in China and India. Moreover, China Auto Catalyst market held the largest market share, and the India Auto Catalyst market was the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region

For instance, China Auto Catalyst market for example, Increasing regulations pertaining emission control limits implemented by China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to curb vehicular pollution is anticipated to boost the demand for autocatalyst in this region. Moreover, these regulations will limit the use of increased PGMs in the coating of an autocatalyst substrate. This, in turn, is likely to make auto catalyst expensive in the coming years and, therefore, increase market revenue share. Hence, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to register the highest growth rate over the forecast period from 2022–2030.

Auto Catalyst Key Market Players & Competitive Insights

Major market players are spending a lot of money on R&D to increase their product lines, which will help the Auto Catalyst market grow even more. Market participants are also taking a range of strategic initiatives to grow their worldwide footprint, including new product launches, contractual agreements, mergers and acquisitions, increased investments, and collaboration with other organizations. Competitors in the Auto Catalyst industry must offer cost-effective items to expand and survive in an increasingly competitive and rising market environment.

One of the primary business strategies adopted by manufacturers in the Auto Catalyst industry to benefit clients and expand the Auto Catalyst market sector is to manufacture locally to reduce operating costs. In recent years, Auto Catalyst has provided with some of the most significant benefits.

BASF SE (Germany) multinational company which specialises in the production and processing of auto catalyst. BASF is proud of the impactful innovations developed by its teams in the mobile emissions catalysts, automotive catalysts recycling and associated precious metal services businesses. The continued focus on competitive, cost-effective, and innovative solutions has resulted in strong customer relationships and a solid earnings track record. Company provides innovative solutions for new engine technologies, tightening emission regulations and fluctuating precious metals prices for emissions control challenges

Also, Umicore (Belgium) is one of the world's leading manufacturer. It is a materials technology and recycling company. Its product portfolio includes thin film products, platinum engineered materials, technical materials, industrial metals, and cobalt and specialty materials, automotive catalysts and organic and inorganic precious-metals-based catalysts, among others. The company also extracts several precious and other metals from various waste streams and industrial residues; and recycles rechargeable batteries. Its products find applications in the automotive, recycling, chemicals, energy, electronics, optics and display, and precious metals industries. The company has operations across Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, South America and Africa.

Key Companies in the Auto Catalyst market includes

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  BASF SE (Germany)

  
  


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  Johnson Matthey (England)

  
  


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  Solvay (Belgium)

  
  


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  LB MINERALS, Ltd (Czech Republic)

  
  


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  Umicore (Belgium)

  
  


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  Corning Incorporated (U.S.)

  
  


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  Cataler Corporation (Japan)

  
  


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  DCL International (Canada), among others

  
  

Auto Catalyst Industry Developments

May 2021: BASF SE has announced the plan to expand the project at its Platinum Group Metals (PGM) refining facility in Seneca, South Carolina, United States to boost the site’s refining capacity for recycled precious metals from spent catalysts, which will further strengthen the company presence in the spent automotive catalyst recycling market, ly.

February 2021: PPG had launched the premium NCP450 and NCX455 ISo-Free catalysts where both effectively eliminated Isocyanates. NCP450 is considered to be ideal for small repairs and offers excellent bare metal adhesion and corrosion protection. The product is engineered carefully with the features such as easier and smoother applications.

May 2021: TFP hydrogen products which is based in the UK had launched tailored catalyst systems for hydrogen generation that have considered the rise in the price of iridium. Since the price of iridium has risen in recent times, have affected the anode catalysts and thereby affected the autocatalysts industry. This invention has effectively addressed the issue as it runs on the combination of iridium and ruthenium for cost-effectiveness.

July 2023: BASF has announced the completion of the carve-out of its mobile emissions catalysts and precious metal services businesses and called the individual legal entity BASF Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS). The brand's intention to carve out the entity was first disclosed in December 2021, with an expected completion timeframe of 18 months. ECMS is a global principal in emissions catalysts and generates mobile emission catalysts for petrol, off-road, and diesel vehicles, motorcycles, small engines, and other applications.

Auto Catalyst Market Segmentation

Auto Catalyst Application Outlook

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  light-duty vehicle diesel

  
  


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  light-duty vehicle gasoline

  
  


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  heavy-duty vehicle

  
  

Auto Catalyst Regional Outlook

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  North America

  
  

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    US

    
    
  
  
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    Canada

    
    
  
  
  
  

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  Europe

  
  

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    Germany

    
    
  
  
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    France

    
    
  
  
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    UK

    
    
  
  
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    Italy

    
    
  
  
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    Spain

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Europe

    
    
  
  
  
  

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  Asia-Pacific

  
  
  
  
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    China

    
    
  
  
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    Japan

    
    
  
  
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    India

    
    
  
  
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    South Korea

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Asia-Pacific

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Latin America

  
  
  
  
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    Brazil

    
    
  
  
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    Mexico

    
    
  
  
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    Argentina

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Latin America

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Middle East & Africa

  
  
  
  
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    South Africa

    
    
  
  
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    GCC Countries

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Middle East