Asia-Pacific is the Global Leader in the Consumption of Dimethyl Ether (DME)

“Dimethyl ether (DME) is an non-poisonous gas, which is liquefiable at a pressure of around 6 bars for storage purpose. It is used as a solvent in the petrochemical industry. The raw materials used in DME manufacturing process are coal, natural gas, bio-based feedstock and methanol. DME consist no sulfur content which gives an advantage of clean burning properties. It has various applications such as in power generation, transportation fuel, house hold use, and industrial use. Raw material for DME production varies according to regions such as, in Asia-Pacific, coal is used as feedstock while in countries such as Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia, natural gas is used as raw material.

Asia-Pacific is the global leader in the consumption of DME and this dominance is expected to continue till 2020. China is the key market in the region, contributing more than 90% to the regional as well as the global market. The global DME market is projected to witness a high growth in the next five years due to its clean combustion property. The market is also growing due to the increasing demand of LPG in various countries, which focus on cutting down the LPG imports by promoting DME. Bio-based DME creates opportunity for the DME market in transportation sector where DME can replace diesel.

LPG blending is the major applications for DME. LPG scarcity is a great concern in the countries that have less gas reserves, as they have a very limited choice of replacing LPG with natural gas. DME has emerged as a trustworthy source for such countries to minimize their LPG imports by blending a pre-described amount of DME in LPG without any change in current infrastructure.

It also includes the company profiling and competitive strategies adopted by different market players, including Akzo Nobel N.V. (The Netherlands), Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (The Netherlands), The Chemours Company (U.S.), China Energy Limited (Singapore), Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan), Ferrostal GmbH (Germany), Grillo Werke AG (Germany), Jiutai Energy Group (China), Oberon fuels (U.S.), and Zagros Petrochemical Company (Iran).
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