Research firm Frost & Sullivan says growth opportunities in the global construction additives market look promising over the next six years.

It expects the market to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5% from 2018 to 2025.

The firm explained in a statement published on Tuesday that a global uptick in construction activity, stringent building codes and environmental standards, as well as the increased use of concrete admixtures, were key factors driving global construction additives market revenues towards almost $17-billion by 2025.

This is also creating higher demand for products such as superplasticisers and iron-oxide pigments.

“With a constantly evolving regulatory landscape, manufacturers should look towards adopting more environmentally sustainable and regulatory compliant additive solutions and manufacturing processes,” noted Frost & Sullivan mobility and infrastructure chemicals and materials senior analyst Prathmesh Limaye.

Limaye added that this would enable participants to attract customers that were focused on high durability and environmental sustainability, as well as harness lucrative revenues in the more mature markets of Western Europe and North America.

From a regional perspective, Frost & Sullivan expects Asia-Pacific to be the biggest market for construction additives and the fastest-growing sector, owing to the region’s industrialisation, urbanisation and high economic growth.

These factors are also expected to boost growth in Latin America.

Further, Europe is expected to witness robust demand for construction additives owing to new construction activities within Eastern Europe and remodelled construction in Western Europe. The Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 will expand France’s infrastructure prospects.

Limaye said North America would experience the slowest growth among the regions, as construction activity was still being impacted by the 2008 recession; however, activity was slowly picking up.

The Middle East will witness strong growth, with the Dubai Wold Expo in 2020 and the 2020 FIFA World Cup, in Qatar, acting as key enablers.

Limaye recommended that market participants look towards the development and supply of products that could be manufactured from locally sourced raw materials, to enable the supply of price-competitive products.

He said this would avoid dependency on traditional manufacturing practices, which had the potential to be restricted in the future by regulatory authorities.

Suppliers should also aim to improve their portfolios with products that could be customised to end-user specifications, he advised.