The chemical industry is one of the most crucial industries in the world, directly linked to many other major industries. According to a report by Precedence Research, the global market of basic chemicals will grow to $979.63 billion by 2032 at the annual growth rate of 3.9%.
Chemicals Market Overview
According to Deloitte’s Chemical Industry Forecast 2024, chemical companies have significantly revised their expectations by mid-2023. The overall global demand for chemicals has been affected by various factors including inflation in the U.S., recession in Europe, and a smaller than expected recovery in demand in China. In addition, excess orders in 2021 and 2022 resulted in many countries having high inventory levels, causing months of overstocking. This led to a decline in demand for chemicals, and in the first eight months of 2023, chemical output increased by less than 1% year-on-year.
Asian markets are expected to witness sluggish demand for chemical products in China due to economic crisis. According to a forecast by S&P Global Inc., the petrochemical market in China is expected to remain under pressure in the first half of 2024 due to the real estate market crisis and the country’s slow economic growth. This will have a major impact on the overall petrochemicals market as soon as China is the largest consumer of petrochemicals in Asia. That said, India is expected to remain a driving force with strong demand in the petrochemicals segment – India’s chemical products are predicted to grow at 8% in 2024.
The 2024 chemical industry landscape is rapidly evolving, with a notable increase in the development of sustainable and green solutions, in line with global environmental initiatives.
Top 10 largest chemical importing countries in 2023
Global chemical imports in 2023 totaled $2.40 trillion, accounting for about 10.1% of the global trade market, with imports increasing by 8.45% year-on-year.
The top ten largest importers of chemicals in 2023 lists:
- United States: $324 billion (13.6%)
- Germany: $172 billion (7.2%)
- China: $161 billion (6.73%)
- Belgium: $104 billion (4.37%)
- The Netherlands: $92.6 billion (3.87 %)
- France: $86.5 billion (3.62%)
- Japan: $80.1 billion (3.35%)
- Italy: $77.6 billion (3.25%)
- India: $73.4 billion (3.07%)
- United Kingdom: $68.4 billion (2.86%)
3 trends that will change the chemical industry in 2024
At the end of 2023, the World Economic Forum invited members of their communities to provide a brief commentary on recent and upcoming views on the chemical industry and its transformation. Here are their conclusions:
1. Low economic growth
The OECD has corrected its 2024 global economic growth forecast to 2.7%, down 0.2% from June, facing the limited sustainability of global trade due to fragmentation of the world economy and fundamental structural problems such as low fertility and aging populations. As the decline is expected to continue into 2024, companies need sustainable survival strategies to adapt to a prolonged period of slow growth. Thus, rapid transformation of business portfolios is essential in response to uncertainty.
2. Climate changes are on the agenda
According to the UN, we have entered an era of ‘global boiling’ rather than ‘global warming’. This was the warning voiced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres after the global average temperature in July 2023 was the highest since records began. Given the increased environmental regulation in various countries due to the climate crisis, adaptation to environmental challenges will be a critical determinant of growth and the ability to sustain economic growth and business activity.
3. Geopolitical shifts and decarbonization strategies for the chemical industry
As protectionism and geopolitical conflicts jeopardize supply chain operations, reconfiguring global supply chains and diversifying supplies are becoming critical survival strategies. Major countries are expanding regulation, applying strict environmental standards and investigating subsidies to protect domestic industries. This trend is expected to continue into 2024 and become an overarching issue of the entire value chain rather than an isolated problem. In response, companies need to be strategic in sourcing, prospecting, partnering and creating favorable conditions for traders.
How do you find potential buyers of chemical products?
EasyBusiness by Kompass is a real digital tool, helping you identify potential chemical buyers around the world.
The identification of potential buyers with EasyBusiness involves using an advanced platform to find specific buyers based on industry-oriented preferences such as chemical product, where we count with more than
270,000 companies in the chemical sector, location, exporter/importer status, email availability or financial indicators.
Using Kompass efficient B2B database, you can find buyers (importers, distributors, traders, agents) who are looking for the exact chemical products you offer, and contact them in a few clicks. The prospecting algorithm is quite simple:
1. Market research
Understanding your target market is key to the success of your export strategy. With a market ranking, you can boost your chances of success by analyzing the preferences and expectations of your target audience.
2. Finding buyers
You can start your search for potential buyers of chemical products right on Kompass.com. The global Marketplace allows you to use various search filters to better segment your target audience and generate a marketing list of leads for further processing using EasyList or to showcase your products in more than 60 countries and in 26 languages being visible by over 190,000 B2B potential buyers who look for chemical products and suppliers worldwide every month.
3. Interacting with buyers
Once you have generated a marketing list of potential buyers, the next step is to interact with them and present your chemical products. Sales Accelerator offers a number of communication tools, including message exchange and email campaigns, that will allow you to reach your customers and buyers in real time with customized call to action.
4. Relationship Building
EasyBusiness Sales Accelerator is a digital tool for companies to build the relations with potential buyers in different countries to increase their customer database and boost chemical sales.
5. Closing the Deal
Once you have established a relationship with a buyer, there is one last step left to take – close the deal. With Sales Accelerator, you can keep all stages of the sales funnel under control by closing deals on time and having 24/7 access to analytics from any device.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the latest statistics emphasize the importance of chemical imports in numerous industries across the globe. As demand continues to grow, chemical exporters (like our advertiser QUÍMICA FUTURA, S.L.) will remain key players in the global market for a very long time to come.
Kompass digital solutions can help jump-start the process of entering foreign markets by solving tasks ranging from market and competitive intelligence, target audience segmentation, lead generation and processing of marketing lists of potential buyers, to building digital sales and export departments that would automate and digitize the whole sales pipeline processes.
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