IPA to Sustain Firm Demand as New Companies Venture into Sanitizers Business

As per ChemAnalyst, 2020 has been a tipping point for the global Iso Propyl Alcohol (IPA) market as COVID-19 crisis has acted as a springboard for the hand sanitizers segment. Indian Isopropanol demand has shown exponential growth this year, showing year-on-year demand growth of 12.5 per cent to reach 100 KTPA.

Isopropanol, a commonly used solvent gained popularity in sanitizers manufacturing after WHO declared the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers essential for inactivating potentially harmful coronavirus. Both governments and manufacturers channelized ways to make this essential ingredient more readily available to cater to the soaring demand. India’s current IPA capacity stands at 70 KTPA, way below its demand figure. Hence, imports cater nearly 50 per cent of its domestic demand. South Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore and US are the top five IPA exporters to India as of 2020. Penciling the surging interest of customers towards hygiene related products, a market participant stated that sanitizer penetration in India has moved from a mere 1 pc in Jan-Sep 2019 to 45.6 pc in the corresponding period this year. When the pandemic initially hit the Indian subcontinent, several beauty and personal care conglomerates in India jumped into wartime production mode for manufacturing sanitizers to contribute to the soaring demand amid surging COVID positive cases.

UFlex Chemicals Business - a leading provider of Adhesives, Printing Inks and Coatings for Flexible Packaging, Mono Cartons and Labels business, has forayed into sanitizer business through its brand ‘FLEXGUARD-I’ which will be manufactured at its manufacturing facility in Noida. FLEXGUARD-I is an alcohol-based sanitizer with Isopropyl Alcohol content of 75% and strictly adheres to the WHO recommended guidelines. In addition, a Coimbatore-based start-up, MY, has come up with the company’s flagship product, UV One, India’s first table-top UV sanitizer christened UV Safe and its range of anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-pollution masks.

As per our analysts, “the pandemic has put forth the need to bring about a strong shift in the consumer preference, motivating markets to design and manufacture anti-COVID products in actualizing Prime Minister Modi’s idea of establishing a self-reliant India, and reduce its reliance on imports.”