The global bromine market generated a revenue of $1,864.3 million in 2019 and will progress at a CAGR of 5.7% between 2020 and 2030, as per the forecast of PS Intelligence, a market research firm based in India. The main factors driving the progress of the market are the ballooning utilization of bromine compounds for reducing mercury emissions, increasing usage of clear brine fluids in oil and gas drilling activities, and the growing adoption of environment-friendly polymeric flame retardants.
The usage of clear brine fluids in oil and gas drilling is a key growth driver of the bromine market. The main reason behind the surging utilization of these fluids in oil and gas drilling is their ability to significantly reduce the bottom-hole pressure and temperature in the well bores. After taking into consideration the densities, temperature/pressure freeze points, clarity, and the freeze points, several kinds of soluble salts, in a specific concentration, are added to the clear brine fluids.
Compared to other drilling fluids, the brines exhibit higher wellbore stability in the salt, less fine-hole gauge, formation, and fill damage, and quick shale penetration rates. Furthermore, the usage of brine considerably reduces the initial setting up cost of the casing for the mud. Based on derivative, the bromine market is classified into bromide salts, hydrogen bromide, and organobromide. Out of these, the bromide salt category will register the fastest growth in the market in the coming years.
This would be because of the rising usage of bromide salts for producing clear brine fluids, which are then used in oil and gas drilling activities. Moreover, the increasing oil and gas exploration and production (EP) activities are fueling the surge in the demand for clear brine fluids, which is, in turn, pushing up the requirement for bromide salts. When application is taken into consideration, the market is categorized into flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, clear brine fluids, and water treatment.
Amongst these, the flame retardants category recorded the highest growth in the market in the past years. This was because of the large-scale usage of the various compounds of the gas such as ethyl bromide, allyl bromide, vinyl bromide, and ammonium bromide in fire extinguishers and retardants. Apart from assisting in putting out fires, these chemicals also make the materials containing them less flammable. The flame retardants category will also register the highest growth in the market in the future.
Geographically, the Asia-Pacific bromine market will be the most prosperous one in the forthcoming years. This would be a result of the mushrooming requirement for electronic products and plastic and insulation, in which the bromine-based flame retardants are heavily used, in the region on account of the soaring urban population and the increasing disposable income of the people living in the regional countries such as China, India, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan.
Thus, it can be safely concluded that the market will surge, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, in the upcoming years, mainly because of the rising usage of bromine in oil and gas drilling activities and their growing requirement in flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and electronic products.
