The polyalkylene glycol market is projected to reach a value of US$16.96bn by 2023, according to a report from US firm Transparency Market Research.

Polyethylene glycol (PAG) are versatile polymeric compounds with a broad range of uses across industries including personal care, pharmaceutical, automotive and aerospace. In personal care, PAG is used as a binding agent in skin creams, personal lubricants and toothpastes.

The global PAG market was valued at US$7.49bn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$16.96bn by 2023, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 11 percent during the forecast period between 2015 and 2023. In terms of volume, the global PAG market stood at 6,522.8 kilo tons in 2014, the report states.

The personal care and pharmaceuticals industries are high-value, low-volume markets for PAG and are expected to drive the market’s growth over the forecast period, according to the report. However, the fluctuating crude oil prices are predicted put a downward pressure on the margins of market players such as Dow Chemical Company, BASF and Clairant International.