Activated Carbon Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2032

This report describes and explains the activated carbon market and covers 2017-2022, termed the historic period, and 2022-2027 termed the forecast period, along with further forecasts for the period 2027-2032. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global activated carbon market reached a value of nearly $5.5 billion in 2022, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% since 2017. The market is expected to grow from $5.5 billion in 2022 to $10.6 billion in 2027 at a rate of 14.1%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.3% from 2027 and reach $20.7 billion in 2032.

Growth in the historic period resulted from strong economic growth in emerging markets, scarcity of safe water and increased health consciousness. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were the COVID-19 impact and inadequate funding for water management.

Going forward, increasing demand for clean water, rising urbanization, increasing water consumption, rising global population and supportive government initiatives for water management will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the activated carbon market in the future are the price fluctuation in raw materials and drawbacks of activated carbon as a filter.

The activated carbon market is segmented by type into powdered activated carbon, granular activated carbon, extruded or pelletized activated carbon and other types. The powdered activated carbon market was the largest segment of the activated carbon market segmented by type, accounting for 44.6% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the extruded or pelletized activated carbon segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the activated carbon market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 16.2% during 2022-2027.

The activated carbon market is segmented by application into liquid phase applications, gas phase applications, metal extraction, medicine and other application. The liquid phase applications market was the largest segment of the activated carbon market segmented by application, accounting for 43.4% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the gas phase applications segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the activated carbon market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 14.5% during 2022-2027.

The activated carbon market is segmented by end use into water treatment, food and beverage processing, pharmaceutical and medical, automotive, air purification and other end uses. The water treatment market was the largest segment of the activated carbon market segmented by end use, accounting for 40.5% of the total in 2022. Going forward, the water treatment segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the activated carbon market segmented by end use, at a CAGR of 14.5% during 2022-2027.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the activated carbon market, accounting for 42.8% of the total in 2022. It was followed by North America, and then the other regions.

Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the activated carbon market will be Asia Pacific and North America where growth will be at CAGRs of 15.3% and 14.3% respectively. These will be followed by Western Europe and South America where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 13.3% and 11.4% respectively.

The global activated carbon market is highly concentrated, with small number of players dominating the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 53.90% of the total market in 2021. Ingevity was the largest competitor with 9.69% of the market, followed by Haycarb PLC with 9.43%, Kuraray Co. Ltd with 8.07%, Daigas Group with 7.00%, Cabot Corporation with 5.36%, Calgon Carbon Corporation with 4.32%, Veolia with 4.08%, Kureha Corporation with 2.52%, Tronox Inc with 1.88% and Carbon Activated Corporation with 1.54%.

The top opportunities in the activated carbon market segmented by type will arise in the powdered activated carbon segment, which will gain $2.2 billion of global annual sales by 2027. The top opportunities in the activated carbon market segmented by application will arise in the liquid phase applications segment, which will gain $2.2 billion of global annual sales by 2027. The top opportunities in the activated carbon market segmented by end use will arise in the water treatment segment, which will gain $2.1 billion of global annual sales by 2027. The activated carbon market size will gain the most in China at $1.3 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the activated carbon market include focus on innovations in high-flow carbon filter systems to strengthen product portfolio, focus on increasing investments to increase production capacities, focus on product innovations to attract more customers and focus on mergers and acquisitions to improve product portfolio and expand geographic presence in the market.

Player-adopted strategies in the activated carbon market include strengthening and enhancing their operational capabilities through business expansions.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the recommends the activated carbon market companies to focus on high-flow carbon filter systems, focus on innovative product launches, focus on increasing investments in new production facilities, expand in emerging markets, focus on mergers and acquisitions, provide competitively priced offerings, focus on b2b marketing, focus on urban population, continue to target fast-growing applications and focus on fast-growing end-use industries.