The growth rate for industrial and specialty gas consumption is not uniform across the world, with demand often driven by a country’s GDP growth and therefore fluctuating across the established and emerging economies. As GDP rises and lifestyles improve, generally speaking the demand for gases also picks up.
It’s no surprise then that while an established market for specialty gases like North America remains strong, much of the talk of specialty gases growth revolves around the Asia-Pacific region, and China in particular. Growing adoption of specialty gases in healthcare, an increased demand in industrial manufacturing applications, and the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in China are all expected to drive specialty gas growth over the next five years.
While the landscape in specialty gases is clearly not uniform geographically, it’s fair to say that globally the vibe is one of growth across the board, and many of the trends evidenced in the market are shared around the world – increasing efficiencies, increasing purities, accelerating digitisation, requirements for the recovery of products, and changing regulatory environments. Here we look at eight areas to watch out for in the specialty gases business in 2019.
