Market Overview
The rare gases, also known as noble gases are gaseous elements present in small amounts in the atmosphere, including helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon.
These rare gases have been found in small amounts in meteorites and earth minerals but are present in greater abundance in Earth’s atmosphere. Despite of their high prices, demand for rare gases are rising rapidly in numerous industries including electronics, automotive, aerospace, healthcare and others. These gases are generally colorless, inflammable, tasteless, odorless and volatile in nature offering a diverse application that allows a competitive edge over other regular gases.
Rare Gas Market Dynamics and Trends
The global rare gas market growth is driven by increasing demand from the electronics industry, continuous hike in oil rates and demand for energy-efficient substitutes.
The high demand for energy-efficient substitutes are expected to drive the demand for the rare gas market
The rare gas market is expected to drive with high demand from various industries to replace the conventional operations with energy-efficient substitutes. Almost 3.7 billion people are generating more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, and these numbers are expected to increase by 60%, reaching 160 zettabytes per year in 2025, requiring high demand for storage devices. The air in hard drives has been replaced with helium gas. The use of helium reduces the amount of drag, thereby reducing the energy needed to spin the platters by 20%. Companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook require tons of it for massive data centers, surging the demand for the helium-driven territory of zettabytes.
The gases like krypton are also gaining emphasis in the lighting sector. The car industry now offers headlights that work with krypton. This gas is also used as a filler gas in halogen bulbs, gas discharge tubes in illuminated billboards and energy-saving bulbs.
The high transportation & storage cost for rare gas is likely to hinder the market growth
The rare gas market is impacted by the high transportation & storage cost due to the need for special arrangements. Also, the high cost for processing of rare gases is one of the major factors restraining the market growth.
COVID-19 Impact Analysis on Rare Gas Market
Due to the pandemic, stakeholders across the rare gas industry have seen a notable impact as all the production work, factories and other activities were closed. The production was hindered halts and supply chain disruption globally. After the pandemic, there are still various restrictions imposed by the governments, such as working with half workforce and fewer operating hours hindering the production cycle of the market. The losses are incorporated with less demand from the automotive, electronics and other associated industries.
On the contrary, the healthcare sector has seen a spike in demand for rare gases including argon, helium and other gases in numerous applications amid pandemic such as the isotope krypton-85 has been used for the study of blood flow and in nuclear medicine to study lung function for problems while magnetic resonance imaging makes use of isotope krypton-83.
Rare Gas Market Segmentation Analysis
By type, the rare gas market is broadly classified into helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon.
The helium gas is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period (2020-2027)
The helium gas is expected to hold the largest market for rare gas market and is expected to continue its dominance in the forecast period due to its wide application areas such as cooling in metal production, adoption of MRI scanners, superconducting magnets and fiber optics. The demand for helium is continuously increasing from multiple sectors including the electronics, biomedical, space, medical equipment, national security and others. According to the industry analysis, helium accounted for the largest, more than 20 % market revenue share among noble gases in 2019.
The growing semiconductor market depends on helium because it can bring temperatures down to below 450 degrees Fahrenheit--lower even than liquid nitrogen. Electronics usage, which represented less than 1 % of total global demand for helium, has spiked exponentially to constitute more than 15% of the market demand today.
The leading market players like Avanti have acquired the license from the Government of Alberta for 6,000 acres in prospective helium territory in 2021. Also, the company entered into a letter of intent to acquire a 12,000-acre helium land package, this time in Montana.
Global Rare Gas Market Geographical Analysis
North America region holds the largest market for the global rare gas globally
North America region holds the largest market share for the rare gas market globally and is expected to continue its dominance in the forecast period with continuous government energy-efficient programs, For instance, in 2020, a proposal submitted by the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and Nuclear Science and Technology Department at the U.S. Department of Energy’s with the startup Forge Nano as a partner has been selected as a Technology Commercialization Fund project in 2020. The project aims to develop xenon and krypton trapping nanocages for improving nuclear power production and waste remediation.
Also, expanding medical sector where gas lasers are being used for surgical purposes such as dermatology, cosmetic surgical treatments and ophthalmic surgeries has been seeking high demand for rare cases.
The market has emerged with partnerships and market expansions in the region to meet the growing demand from the industries. Such as, in 2018, Air Water has opened a new facility to expand the supply and sales of rare gases xenon and krypton. The Linde Group has also expanded its production of the rare gases used by the semiconductor industry, including xenon after increasing demand for etching 3D semiconductor structures.
Rare Gas Market Companies and Competitive Landscape
The rare gas market is highly competitive with the local player’s presence followed by the global companies, contributing to the major share in the market growth. In addition, some of the key players contributing to the growth of the market are Electronic Fluorocarbons LLC, Praxair Inc., Airgas Inc., Air Liquide S.A., Iwatani Corporation, Linde Group, Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Messer Group GmbH, Advanced Specialty Gases Inc., Iceblick Ltd. and others. The major players are adopting various new strategies to dominate the market, such as expansions, acquisitions and collaborations, which are contributing to the growth of the rare gas market globally.
Electronic Fluorocarbons LLC
Overview: Electronic Fluorocarbons services global industries with rare gases and fluorocarbons purified to the highest specifications. The company is also engaged in researching new product purity specifications, developing purification methodologies, provide quality control, technical and analytical support and supply qualified materials to the semiconductor industry.
Product Portfolio: The Company offers 4 types of rare gases: helium, krypton, neon, and xenon.
Key Development: In 2019, Electronic Fluorocarbons expanded both facilities and its workforce with the addition of a 32,000-square-foot extension to the existing production plant. The new space will be used for new purification and fill lines to facilitate the growth of existing products
The global rare gas market report would provide access to an approx: 69 market data table, 74 figures and 240 pages.