PAG Base Oil Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

PAG Base Oil Market Overview

PAG Base Oil market size is estimated to reach US$1.9 billion by 2027, after growing at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2022 to 2027. Polyalkylene glycol or PAG is a synthetic base oil which is available in both water soluble & insoluble form, and provide quality lubricity, high natural viscosity index and good temperature stability. The base oil is used in automobile & refrigerator compressor along with polyether for air conditioning, in aerospace air compressor application, as petroleum refined oil substitute, as metal working fluids and hydraulic fluids. Soluble PAG base oil have hydrophilic molecule which makes them soluble in water, which allows easy clean-up of equipment. Factors like increase in production scale of aircrafts, growing demand of automotive vehicles, growing construction activities and high demand of textile items is driving the growth of PAG base oil market. However, PAG base oil is chemically derived from crude oil, and the volatility in the crude oil prices can have negative impact on the production volume of Grade V synthetic base oil like PAG. Hence, this can hamper the growth of PAG base oil industry. 

COVID-19 Impact

Various countries across the world, in order to prevent the widespread of COVID-19, have implemented necessary measures like consequential lockdown, quarantining, restriction on public movement, and regulation on logistics. This caused lack of availability of labor workforce and raw materials in factories and plants, which disrupted the functionality of major end users of PAG base oil like automotive, aerospace, and heavy machinery equipment in construction sector. For instance, as per the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, in 2020 there was a 16% global decline in vehicles production i.e., less than 78 million vehicles were produced. Also, as per International Construction and Infrastructure Surveys, the construction and infrastructure activities across all regions went down in Q1 of 2020 with China in the Asia-Pacific region having the sharpest workload contraction. Moreover, as per the 2021 report of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the Global business jet deliveries declined 20.4% to 644 aircraft in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PAG base oil is used as compressor oil, gear oil, hydraulic fluids in automotive & construction vehicles, as lubricant & air compressor in aircrafts. Hence, the decrease in productivity of these sectors led to decrease in usage of PAG base oil in them, which negatively impacted the growth of PAG base oil industry.

Report Coverage

The report: “PAG Base Oil Market Report – Forecast (2022 – 2027)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the PAG Base Oil Industry.

By Form – Water Soluble, Water Insoluble, and High Viscosity Thickeners.
By Application - Anhydrous Fire-Resistant Hydraulic Oil, Gear Oil, Engine Oil, Metal Working Fluids, Compressor Oil (Air Compressor Oil, Refrigerator Compressor Oil, and Gas Compressor Oil), Textile lubricant, Food-grade lubricant, and Others.
By End User – Construction (Draglines, Crane, Bulldozer, Dump trucks, Scrapper, Others), Automotive (Passenger Cars, Heavy Vehicles, Light Vehicles, Others), Aerospace (Commercial Liner, General Liner, Passenger Liner, Military & Choppers), Agriculture (Tractors, Harvesters, Balers, Harrows, Other), Textiles, Food & Beverage, and Others.
By Geography - North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherland, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Rest of APAC), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Rest of South America), Rest of the World (Middle East, Africa).

Key Takeaways

• Asia-Pacific dominates the PAG base oil industry, as the region consist of major end users of the synthetic lubricant like automobiles, textiles, construction sector in major economies like China, India, Japan, South Korea
• In refrigeration compression, PAG and polyether lubricants are used exclusively with the current generation of environmentally friendly HFC refrigerants such as R-134a and R-152a
• The superior heat transfer characteristics, thermal and oxidation stability of PAG base oil make them ideal for use as heat transfer fluids and process fluids in production of plastics, elastomers, threads & fabricated parts

Figure: Asia-Pacific PAG Base Oil Market Revenue, 2021-2027

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PAG Base Oil Market Segment Analysis – By Form

Water soluble held a significant share in PAG base oil market in 2021, with a share of over 36%. Water soluble PAG lubricants has high viscosity index, good temperature adaptability and can accommodate high water content than mineral oil-based lubricant without corrosion. Hence, due to such unique features such type of PAG base oil are used as hydraulic fluid, quenching fluids, gear oils in industrial equipment like automotive and construction equipment. The rapid development in these sectors has increased their scale of productivity, which has positively impacted the demand for PAG base oil. For instance, as per European Automobile Manufacturers Association, the production and registration of passenger cars in the EU increased by 53.4% in 2021 with strong volume seen in Spain, France, Germany. Also, as per the 2021 report of the U.S Census Bureau, construction activities in the U.S have steadily increased, with residential construction showing an increase of 4.1% in November, compared to 2020. The increase in productivity of automobile and construction sector will increase usage of water soluble PAG base oil having high hydrophilic molecule in automotive vehicles and in heavy construction equipments like dump trucks, draglines for lubrication. This will have positive impact on the growth rate of PAG base oil industry.

PAG Base Oil Market Segment Analysis – By End User

Automotive sector held a significant share in PAG base oil market in 2021, with a share of over 25%. PAG base oil is used as compressor oil along with polyether in air conditioning system of cars, as hydraulic oil on brakes, clutches, power steering system and as engine oil it helps control friction and wear of automotive engines. The increase in disposable income, improvement in living standards and rapid urbanization has led to increase in demand for new vehicles, which has increased the productivity scale of automotive vehicles. For instance, as per the November 2021 report of Europe Automobile Manufacturer Association, the new passenger car registration in the first ten months of 2021 increased up to 2.2% with an increase shown in European Union markets like Italy showed 12.7%, Spain showed 5.6% and France showed 3.1%. Such increase in consumption of automotive vehicles will lead to increase in their production scale, which will increase the usage of PAG base oils like compressor oil, hydraulic fluids and engine oil for automotive parts and air-cooling system. Hence, this will positively impact the growth of PAG base oil industry.  

PAG Base Oil Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

Asia-Pacific held the largest share in PAG base oil market in 2021, with a share of over 27%. The region consists of major end users of PAG base lubricants like automotive, construction, textile and plastics sector in major economies like China, India, Japan, with China being the largest producer of automobiles and textiles. The economic development along with growing investments in these nations has increased the industrial output of their sectors including end-users of PAG base oil. For instance, as per the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturing, the global production volume of vehicles increased to 57 million in 2021 from 52 million in 2020, with Asia accounting for 50% of production. Also, as per the Indian Brand and Equity Foundation, the automobile sector in India attracted FDI worth US$30.51 billion between April 2000 and June 2021. Moreover, as per China Electronic Information Industry Development, the country is expected to spend US$1.4 trillion on new infrastructure projects between 2020-2025, including investments in renewable energy and residential buildings. PAG base oil are used for lubrication, removal or heat and sealing of pistons in automotive vehicles and heavy construction machinery. Hence, the increase in automobile production and undertaking of new construction projects will lead to more usage of PAG base oils in automobile and construction equipment, which will positively impact the growth of PAG base oil industry.

PAG Base Oil Market Drivers

Growing Scale of Aircraft Production

PAG base oil as compressor oil is used in aerospace air compressor application like potable water supply on aircraft, electronic and galley cooling, aircraft engine manufacturing, semiconductor process gas handling etc. Moreover, PAG base oil is used as substitute for petroleum refined oil in aircrafts when they operate in extreme temperature. The growing demand for aircraft and their components in the regions like Europe & North America has increased the production volume of major aircraft manufacturers like Airbus & Boeing. For instance, in 2021 Airbus increased the production rate of A320 Family aircraft from 43 aircraft in Q3 to 45 in Q4, and it increased the monthly production rate of A322 from 5 to 6 aircraft per month in Montreal, Quebec, Mobile. Also, in 2020, Boeing was the major producer of wide-body planes with a total unit of 224 followed by Airbus 147 units. Such increase in aircraft production will increase the usage of PAG base oil in aerospace air compressor application, thereby providing boost up to growth rate of PAG base oil industry.

High Demand for Textiles

Textile industry is another major user of PAG base oil as such oil is used as extreme pressure lubricants in many high speed & temperature fibers processes where shear stability is a required. Having hydrophilic molecule make the lubricant not to stain or discolour fibre and are easily removed during scouring process. The increase in the volume of textile manufacturing on account of high demand for textile items like clothing and apparels etc. will have a positive impact on the demand for PAG base oil in the textile sector. For instance, as per the 2021 report of the European Union, the production of non-durable goods like clothing items increased by 2.8% in July. Also, as per the National Development and Reform Commission domestic retail sales of apparel and knitwear in China stood at 172.4 billion in 2019 and online garment sales expanded with 16.5% yearly growth. Such increase in production and consumption of clothing and apparel textile items will create more demand for PAG base oil to be used in textile machines such as spinning machine and knitting machines. Hence, this provide more growth opportunities to PAG base oil industry in textile sector.

PAG Base Oil Market Challenge

Volatility in Crude Oil Price

Synthetic oil is made from chemically modified materials such as petroleum components which are derived from crude oil. Hence, the variation in the price of crude oil due to geopolitical, weather or supply chain mishap reasons disrupt the flow of crude oil to markets. Such disruption leads to irregular production of petroleum components by manufacturers which result in indefinite production of grade V synthetic oil like PGA. For instance, as per the December 2021 report of the U.S Energy Information Administration, the crude oil price dropped to 39.17 US$ per barrel in 2020 from 56.99 US$ per barrel in 2019. Hence due to the price reduction, crude oil production fell by 8% in 2020 i.e., 11.3 million barrels per day compared to 12.2 million barrels in 2019. Such a decrease in crude oil production on account of price fluctuation will negatively impact the production of PAG base oil which can hamper the growth of PAG base oil industry.

PAG Base Oil Industry Outlook

The companies to develop a strong regional presence and strengthen their market position, continuously engage in mergers and acquisitions. PAG Base oil top 10 companies include:

1. Exxon Mobile Corporation
2. Denso Corporation
3. Chevron Corporation
4. Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
5. Morris Lubricants
6. Petronas Lubricant International
7. TSI Supercool
8. Ultrachem Inc.
9. Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd
10. Croda International Plc

Recent Developments

• In 2021, American Industrial Partners acquired RelaDyne which is one of the leaders in North America’s lubricant distribution market extending across United States, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region.
• In 2021, Exxon Mobil Corporation launched Mobil SuperTM All-in-One Protection SUV Pro Synthetic Engine Oil, which consists of active ingredients that will efficient lubrication to SUV engines, enabling them to run under bad weather conditions.
• In 2020, French lubricant company Condat SA acquired Kemno, a specialist lubricant and metalworking coolant company in Milan, hence the acquisition expands Condat market share in Italy and its fastener and machining lube capacity. 

Relevant Reports

Refrigerant Oil Market – Forecast (2022 - 2027)
Report Code – CMR 0005

Synthetic Lubricants Market – Forecast (2022 - 2027)
Report Code – CMR 0584

Industrial Gear Oils Market – Forecast (2022 - 2027)
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