The market for caprylic alcohol has been driven by in part by the pharmaceutical industry. Increasing demand from emerging countries has been one of the major factors for growth.
North America had the third-largest share in the caprylic alcohol market in 2013 and Asia Pacific was the leading region. The Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing market for caprylic alcohol, due to increasing demand for detergents.
The market in the Asia Pacific was traditionally led by China; however, other Asian countries such as India, Japan and South Korea are likely to provide better market opportunity, owing to increasing consumption from the pharmaceutical industry.
Germany is the largest consumer of caprylic alcohol in the European region. The US has long had a large demand, mainly from end-user industries including pharmaceuticals.
However, environmental regulations regarding caprylic alcohol are anticipated to hinder the growth of the market in next few years.
Some of the key manufacturers in the caprylic alcohol market are Azelis UK Life Sciences, Charkit Chemical, Creasyn Finechem (Tianjin), Kao, Sasol Germany and TCI (Shanghai) Development.
Caprylic acid is a fatty acid alcohol mainly used as intermediate in chemicals and pharmaceutical industry. Also known as octanol, it is a colourless liquid with penetrating odor, insoluble in water and with vapours heavier than air.