Bleaching Clay Market Expected to Reach $1.7 Billion by 2031—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Bleaching Clay Market," The bleaching clay market was valued at $0.9 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $1.7 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2022 to 2031.

Bleaching clay also known as bleaching earth is a type of adsorbent clay that is used for removing the coloring matter from liquids (such as oils).     

Industrial oils account for major contamination owing to their product nature and production process. Different types of oils are being used across food industry and oil & gas industry. In addition, growing concern over purification of used industrial oil to promote sustainability and green environment drives the demand for purification of used industrial oils. Bleaching clay plays crucial role during regeneration process of industrial oil. The demand for regeneration of industrial oil has increased substantially to minimize the negative impact related with disposal and use of industrial oil. In addition, regeneration of industrial oil is an important aspect considered as this tends to cut down the cost associated with use of new industrial oil. For instance, regeneration of industrial oil tends to minimize 40% cost associated with use and purchase of new industrial oils. On the other hand, presence of moisture or water content in the industrial oil degrades the quality of the product. Moreover, reaction of water content along with acids, bases and other contaminants in the industrial oil hampers the quality and product efficiency. Bleaching clay is widely adopted during production and regeneration of industrial oil. This drives the growth of the global market.

However, fluctuations in the prices and unavailability of raw materials will pose a major challenge to the growth of the bleaching clay market. Furthermore, the requirement of huge expenditure for R&D activities and for setting up new manufacturing plants for bleaching clays products such as mineral clays, attapulgite, bentonite, and sepiolit, and others further decreases the bleaching clay market growth rate. In addition, Environmental Health and Safety (ESH) guidelines regarding extraction and refinement of oil and fats will hamper the market growth.

Palm oil is used widely owing to low cost. However, this oil tend to contain 3-MCPD esters and glycidyl esters (GE) that further escalates health associated risks. Thus, natural bleaching clay is used during production of palm oil owing to ability of bleaching clay to eliminate the 3-MCPD esters and glycidyl esters (GE). In addition, natural bleaching clay plays vital role in purification of and treatment of biofuels. The demand for biofuel is experiencing growth owing to its sustainability and green chemistry nature. However, purification of biofuel is a crucial step as it tends to produce efficient biofuel. Thus, natural bleaching clay plays a crucial role during production and purification of biofuel. In addition, it can also be employed during purification of feedstock such as vegetable oils, used cooking oils, residual oil or animal fats. Moreover, natural bleaching is suitable during pre-treatment of feedstock and post-treatment of finished products. Use of natural bleaching clay during purification of paraffin wax is a considerable factor anticipated to offer new growth opportunities in the global market.

The bleaching clays market is segmented on the basis of product type, application, and region. By product type, the market is segregated into activated bleaching clay and natural bleaching clay. The activated bleaching clay segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 70% of the total share. Edible oil tend to contain pigments, dyes, and other contaminants that tend to degrade the quality, shelf life, odor, and taste of the edible oil. Activated bleaching clay is widely used for absorption of these contaminants as this bleaching clay has high contaminants absorption capacity. Use of activated bleaching clay for purification and refining edible oil and fats is the key market trend. Nearly 157 million tons of edible oil is consumed globally owing to its extensive use in food industry. Moreover, key manufacturers of edible oil are investing toward production of edible oil that is extracted from seeds and fruits. This type of edible oil is rich in nutrient, has longer shelf life, and can be used with diverse culinary food application. This further drives the demand for edible oil.  

By application, the global bleaching clays market is segmented into industrial oil, mineral oil & waxes, vegetable oil & animal fats. The vegetable oil & animal fats application dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2021, with over 42% of the total share. Bleaching clay is used for purification of vegetable oil and animal fat owing to its ability to eliminate contaminants present in these oils. Vegetable oil & animal fats tend to contain chlorophylls, carotenoids and other pigments that tend to degrade the color and odor of the products and need to be removed during production and purification process. In addition, removal of oxidation compounds and undesirable fatty acids in the vegetable oil is important as these products tend to affect the shelf life of vegetable oils. Bleaching clays are capable of eliminating these contaminants and escalating the absorption of trace components that tend to effect efficiency of the refining process. Majority of vegetable oil is lost during refining process owing to minimal oil retention on the filter cake. Use of natural bleaching clay minimizes the loss of vegetable oil during refining process and improves filtration rate.

Region-wise, the bleaching clays market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific bleaching clays market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Mineral oil and waxes tend to contain phospholipids, metal traces and other impurities that further increase the risk of contamination. Metal traces such as potassium, calcium, iron, aluminum, and copper in mineral oils and waxes tend to degrade the quality of the products. FAME and HVO are two refinement process used during purification of mineral oil and wax products. Use of bleaching clay along with use of traditional FAME and HVO purification techniques enhance the removal of trace elements and other associated contaminants in mineral oils and wax products. Demand for wax and wax products across China is growing owing to rise in production and increase in demand for wax products. There is an increase in the demand and use of bleaching is owing to factors such as rise in industrial output, import & export, consumer consumption and capital investment over mineral oil production. This factor drives the growth of the bleaching clays market across Asia-Pacific.

Key players operating in the global bleaching clays market include AMC (UK) Ltd., Arkema S A, Ashapura Perfoclay Ltd, Clariant AG, DuPont, EP Minerals, U.S. Silica Company, HRP Industries, Musim Mas, Oil Dri Corporation of America, Qingdao Qiancheng Minerals Co., Ltd., Refoil Earth Pvt. Ltd., Sinoma Attapulgite Clay Co. Ltd., Taiko Group of Companies, The W Clay Industries Sdn., and Tianjin Yuanjing Bentonite Minchem Co. Ltd.

Key findings of the study:

• The natural bleaching clay segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 7.1% from 2022 to 2031.
• The mineral oil & wax application segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 7.4% from 2022 to 2031.
• Asia-Pacific garnered the highest share of 39% in 2021, in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of 7.7%.

COVID-19 Analysis:

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable global pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and the economy around the globe. The bleaching clays market has staggering and unprecedented impact due to COVID-19 pandemic, owing to the disruptions in the supply chain for various bleaching clays products. According to an article published by Food and Agriculture Organization, the global production of oil crops stood at 612.3 million tons from 2018 to 2019 while production rate declined and reached 584.3 million tons from 2019 to 2020.  The manufacturer has faced challenges in terms of operation and supply chain due to government restrictions during the lockdown. The guidelines and policies of logistics and supply chain of the bleaching clays and chemical market were affected remarkably.

Moreover, the supply of bleaching clays products to marketers and consumers are held both within and across the border during the first quarter of 2020. Furthermore, to control the surge of novel coronavirus cases, there is a drastic shift of investments from other sectors toward biodiesel sector. Also, several synthetic bleaching clay product manufacturing companies have either shut down or decreased their operations due to the risk of infection among the workforce. This has temporarily hampered the demand and supply chain of bleaching clays market.

In addition, complete imposition of lockdown in mining, oil & gas, mineral oil, and other end use sector is projected to hamper the growth of the bleaching clays market. The new Food and Agriculture Organization projections for oilseeds and derived products for 2019 indicate a tightening supply-demand situation as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which is causing a significant contraction in production. Stocks are expected to remain tight in 2020-21, according to preliminary projections. However, growing awareness related to health and sustainable development has surged production of refined and vegetable oil during the COVID-19 pandemic which in turn has increased the demand for bleaching clays products. Furthermore, several personal care and beauty including fragrances, colon cosmetics, skincare, and hair care, has been affected owing to strict government norms and regulations.