A Brief Overview of the Finished Lubricants Market and Other Specialty Markets
While the global demand for finished lubricants in 2013 is up marginally compared to 2012, the marine lubricants industry is showing signs of improvement and is currently undergoing major changes as it adapts to shifts in the shipping industry. Due to new emission regulations coming to fruition, further modifications will occur in the next five to 10 years, impacting the type of fuels that are consumed, engine technology, and emission control devices. As a result, the market is expected to continue its shift towards the use of multiple BN (alkaline) cylinder oils suitable for a specific application. Asia, with a 53% share of the marine lubricant demand, is the largest consuming region, followed by Europe (includes Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Turkey) with 22%, and North America with 17% of the demand. The overall market is not expected to grow substantially; however, the Asian demand share is expected to expand further due to the growth of economies in the region spurred alongside increases in their seaborne trade, and consequently leading to amplified lubricant consumption.Continue reading
Natural Segment Continues to Outpace the Overall Beauty Market
The natural and organic personal care market has registered double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive year since Kline began reporting the burgeoning segment separately in 2007. Now at nearly $30 billion in global sales at the manufacturers’ level, natural beauty has solidified its position as a mainstay in the industry and as much more than a passing fad.
Growing consumer awareness and increasing efficacy of natural personal care products continues to attract consumers who are looking to move away from chemically processed personal care products. Plant-based ingredients were once enough to entice consumers; today a product’s function and efficacy are now regarded as at least as important as the ingredient source by many consumers.Continue reading
The Epicenter of Beauty Retail: Know Thy Customer
The beauty retailing landscape is constantly in flux. The consumer’s path to purchase is not always clear as offline and online shopping are more intertwined than ever before.
Alternate shopping channels and sub-channels once touted by many in the cosmetics and fragrance industry as being “negligible” or “insignificant” have emerged as “essential” for the growth of brands. Digital shopping has moved from the peripheral to the epicenter of a brand’s distribution strategy. The formula for a winning marketing approach can be created based on the awareness of the beauty retailing mix and what is appropriate for a particular product or category.Continue reading
Japanese Seed Treatment Market Overview
The market for seed treatment products in rice areas in Japan approaches USD 48 million at the manufacturers’ level applied to approximately 1.54 million base hectares in 2013.
Seed treatment represents approximately 8% of the Japanese market for fungicide, insecticide, and fungicide/insecticide products applied in rice, valued at roughly USD 611 million distributor-level values in 2013. The market for foliar, planter box, and in-furrow fungicide and insecticides represents the remaining percentage of total sales to control disease and pests in rice.
As a result of a slight increase in planted area and favorable yields due to generally positive weather conditions throughout the growing season, overall rice production volume increased over the previous year. Likewise, bullish wholesale prices encouraged increased planting in 2013.Continue reading
Chinese Seed Treatment Market Overview
In 2013, over 100,000,000 hectares of crops are planted in China that can be treated by seed treatment agents. Central China has the largest planted area accounting for over 40% of total planted acreage, followed by Northern China with over 30% and Southern China with over 20%.
An estimated 46.1% of the planted acreage in 2013 are treated with seed treatment agents, either on-farm or off-farm. Corn is the crop with the largest seeds treating acreage, 34,000,000 hectares are treated by agents, representing above 95% of the acreage planted with corn.Continue reading
We’re Announcing a First-of-its-kind Report on the Intimate Health Market
With over 100 million copies of Fifty Shades of Grey sold and the popularity of such TV series as HBO’s “Girls” and Showtime’s ”Masters of Sex”, a paradigm shift in attitudes towards personal intimacy and enhancement products has emerged. Today, a number of marketers and retailers are embracing this movement and taking it mainstream, catering to the needs of a wide spectrum of consumers from college students to seniors.
With a dynamic sexual wellness market afoot, the need for accurate market research is paramount. Kline & Company is announcing the undertaking of a comprehensive study Sexual Wellness: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities, offering a first-of-its-kind assessment of this fast growing and highly fragmented market.Continue reading
Kline’s September Index of Base Stock Production and Re-refining Cash Margins Shows Gains for VGO Refiners and Lower Returns for Re-refiners
In January, Kline & Company, a worldwide consulting and research firm serving needs of organizations in the lubricants and base stocks industry, introduced its monthly Base Stock Margin Index, a characterization of recent cash margin contributions in the U.S. base oil market over the past 24 months.
The Index estimates cash margin contributions associated with U.S. Group II base stock production. It simulates EBITDA before the deduction of corporate SG&A expenses for typical VGO-based virgin base stock plants and RFO-based re-refineries. A more detailed description of the Margin Index can be found in the January release.Continue reading
Professional Skin Care Market Rx: Top Five Ingredients
In our recently published reports—Professional Skin Care Global Series: Market Analysis and Opportunities and Physician-dispensed Skin Care: Perception and Satisfaction Survey—we learned about the ideal “prescription” that makes this $6 billion global market for professional skin care products thrive. Some of the most important key areas that skin care market players should consider are:
- Emerging markets: although small in dollar sales, they show high potential in the future.
- Medical care providers represent a tremendous distribution opportunity.Continue reading
The Colorful Facets of the Global Professional Hair Care Market
The dynamic and hard-to-track professional hair care market continues to evolve each year. Care products, consisting of shampoos and conditioners, is the fastest growing category, advancing 3% globally in 2013. The conditioners category remains vibrant, particularly the treatment segment, which has begun to shift away from oils in favor of multi-benefit and hybrid products, a trend spurred by Revlon’s Uniq One.
Hair colorants are also gaining share, driven mainly by the continuation of the low/no ammonia trend which began in 2009 with the launch of INOA by L’Oréal Professionnel. In 2013, the segment evolved into new sub-segments, such as colorants with conditioning properties and those that are free from potentially harmful ingredients. The popular low/no-ammonia segment surged by 41% in North America, but still has relatively low penetration, especially when compared to Western Europe, which represents the majority of the segment’s sales.Continue reading
Healthy Growth of the U.S. Nonprescription Drugs Industry Projected to Continue
Findings from the recently published Nonprescription Drugs USA study show positive signs of growth for the 2013 U.S. OTC market. Compared to 2012 when the market had flat sales performance, 2013 recorded healthy growth of 3.0% to reach $23.5 billion at the manufacturers’ level. The market is driven by the strong performance of several brands including Novartis’ Excedrin and Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol and Motrin IB, as well as the continuous strong sales performance coming from nutritional brands, such as Vitafusion (Church & Dwight), Centrum (Pfizer), and Schiff (Reckitt Benckiser).Continue reading
