Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific is the largest and fastest growing market for process oils. The market share and growth is attributed to the burgeoning automobile, and the tire manufacturing segment. China exports tires to 200 countries, with 44.561 million new pneumatic tires exported in 2015 alone. The growth of India and Indonesia in the region is projected to challenge China’s monopoly.

North America and Europe posted strong sales in automobile sector which resulted in burgeoning growth in the process oil market. An estimated 17.55 million vehicles were sold in the US in 2016, with pickups and SUV’s the favored vehicles due to low gasoline prices. This trend is expected to reverse as governments impose tough emission legislation. Three major automakers Ford, G.M, and Chrysler are the largest consumers of process oils.

Middle East and Africa are prime crude oil producing regions. Process oil market in these regions is booming due to growth in the downstream chemical processing industry.

Latin American market is a mixed bag with growth in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, and a slowdown in Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina. The tire market is heavily dependent on imports from China. New governments in Argentina and Brazil are expected to stabilize the region which has been in political turmoil and new project investment across all end user industries