Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The global molybdenum disulfide (MOS2) market was valued at over 5,280 tons in 2020, registering a CAGR of over 2% during the period, 2021-2026.

The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic, majorly affected countries across the region focuses on flattening the curve of the infection, resulting in severe lockdowns, confining millions of people in their homes, and shutting down businesses, production, and manufacturing facilities resulting in no economic activity. The losses in 2020 also came from the aerospace industry, when most of the flights were canceled and aircraft manufacturing operations were called off. For instance, the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft.

Key Highlights

• Over the short term, the major factors driving the market studied are an increase in demand from various end-user industries.
• On the flip side, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and decline in the automotive industry is expected to hinder the growth of the market.
• By application, the lubricants and coatings segment dominated the market due to the growing consumption of lubes and greases in the automotive and industrial sectors.
• Asia-Pacific dominated the market across the globe with countries such as China, India, and others accounting for the largest consumption.

Key Market TrendsAutomotive Segment is One of the Largest Consumers

• Molybdenum disulfide is used as a lubricant additive, or as a dry lubricant coating for various applications. Molybdenum greases, and lubricants are used for various applications such as bearings, chassis lubrication points, chain drivers, and many other applications.
• Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is primarily used in the automotive industry in the form of greases for lubrication of various parts including ball joints, pedal shafts, wheel bearing, steering linkages, and lubrication control arms. Owing to its superior lubrication properties, it is used for lubrication where wet films cannot be used. It is also used for various parts such as car engines, pistons, piston cylinders, bearings, power transmission components, and many others.
• However, the global automotive industry has witnessed a downfall in the recent times. ​According to OICA, the automotive production in 2018 decreased by 1.1% with 95.6 million vehicles, followed by a decline of 5.2% in 2019, with a total production of 91.79 million vehicles. Asia-Pacific, the largest hub for automotive manufacturing, witnessed an overall decline of about 6.4% in 2019.
• Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, major manufacturers, such as General Motors, Ford, and Honda, cut back production owing to continuous declining sales rate in the United States market. ​Major countries, like China, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, have registered negative growth in production. This decline in the domestic demand, increasing labor costs, and implementation of new vehicle norms are impacting the market.
• Moreover, in 2020, due to COVID-19, the global automotive production is about 77.62 million which declined by 16% compared to 91.79 million in 2019. Sales of automotive declined from 90.43 million in 2019 to 77.97 million in 2020. The declining automotive industry is likely to affect the market growth during the forecast period.
• The global production reached 21.08 million vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 which increased by 16.9% compared to 18.03 million vehicles in Q1 of 2020. Moreover, compared to 23.24 million vehicles produced in Q1 2019, the production in Q1 2021 decreased by 9.3%. The automotive industry hasn’t reached pre-covid production levels yet.
• With automotive production slowing down and the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation for the automotive industry, the market for molybdenum disulfide is expected to be affected, at least for a short- to medium-term period.

China to dominate the Asia-Pacific Market

• In the Asia-Pacific region, China is the largest economy in terms of GDP. The country witnessed about 6.1% growth in its GDP during 2019, even after the trade disturbance caused due to its trade war with the United States. The economic growth rate of China in 2020 was initially expected to be moderate compared to the previous year. However, due to the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the economic growth of China witnessed a contraction to 2.3%, and it is expected to witness recovery at a rate of 8.4% in 2021.
• Molybdenum disulfide is used to produce coatings and other products that are used in the construction industry. The construction industry grew at a strong pace in 2020, but the growth was restricted due to the pandemic situation. The construction sector has supported the economic growth in the country whenever major slowdowns occurred. The country has the largest construction market in the world, encompassing 20% of all construction investments globally. China is expected to spend nearly USD 13 trillion on buildings by 2030.
• According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the construction output value in the country increased from CNY 9.6 trillion in 2010 to CNY 26.39 trillion in 2020.
• China is the world's largest electronics manufacturing base, and current upstream manufacturers, such as South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, face stiff competition. In terms of demand, electronic items have the greatest growth rates in the consumer electronics section of the industry in the country. The demand for electronic items is expected to rise gradually in the future as the middle-class population's disposable incomes rise, therefore pushing the market studied.
• According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), automotive production declined by about 2% in 2020. The country produced 25,225,242 units in 2020, which declined from 25,750, 650 units in 2019. However, in Q1, 2021, the production reached 6,352,028 an increase of 81% over Q1 2020. The manufacturing activities have picking up pace, driving the demand for lubricants and greases.
• China is one of the largest manufacturers of aircraft and one of the largest markets for domestic air passengers. Moreover, the aircraft parts and assembly manufacturing sector in the country is growing rapidly, with the presence of over 200 small aircraft parts manufacturers. Under the ‘Made in China 2025’ plan, China is expected to supply over 10% of homemade commercial aircraft to the domestic market by 2025. However, the aerospace industry slowed down due to the government restriction to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the short-term.
• Following a disastrous year, China's petrochemical industry is likely to find the light at the end of the tunnel in 2021, with the major drivers being rising demand, particularly from the local market, as well as a solid global economic recovery.
• China is expected to increase refining capacity from 17.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2020 to 20 million barrels per day by 2025. China's crude oil imports reached an all-time high in 2020, and the International Energy Agency believes that China will overtake the United States as the world's top crude oil refiner this year.
• Hence, owing to the aforementioned factors, the market studied in the country is likely to enhance at a healthy rate during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The global molybdenum disulfide market is partially consolidated in nature, owing to the top few players occupying a significant share in the market studied in 2020. Some of the major players in the molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) market include Freeport-McMoRan, Jinduicheng Molybdenum Group Co., Ltd., Songxian Exploiter Molybdenum Co. Ltd, Luoyang Shenyu Molybdenum Co. Ltd, GRUPO MÉXICO, among others.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

American Elements
Centerra Gold Inc.
Freeport
McMoRan
Grupo Mexico
Jinduicheng Molybdenum Group Co. Ltd
Luoyang Shenyu Molybdenum Co. Ltd
Merck KGAA
Moly metal LLP
Rose Mill Co.
Songxian Exploiter Molybdenum Co.
TRIBOTECC GMBH

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