The global market for Industrial Alcoholis projected to reach US$160.4 billion by 2025, despite the short-term pain estimated for the industry as a result of the ongoing pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a considerable impact on world economy and all industries. The imposition of travel bans, quarantines and lockdowns in several key economies are leading to slowdown in supply chain, creating uncertainty in the stock market, and affecting business confidence levels, besides causing panic among the world population The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted majority of economic activities across countries, and is anticipated to result in another phase of slowdown. In addition to adversely affecting the global economy, the outbreak is bound to have a major impact on Asian economies as a result of weak trade, domestic demand, production, tourism and supply chain disruptions. The pandemic is estimated to cost trillions of dollars to the global economy. Commodity-rich exporting countries are expected to experience a US$2- US$3 trillion fall in investments in the near term.In short, as global business activity contracts and the economy comes virtually to a standstill, manufacturing PMI indices are in sharp declines lower than the 2009 recession. Global GDP is expected to decline to 1.5%-2.0% as against the projected 3% growth before the pandemic. Lockdown across countries worldwide; suspension of the transportation; disruptions in supply chains have resulted in global PMI falling from 50.4 in January 2020 to 46.1 points in February-2020 to an unbelievable 39.4 points in March-2020. Essentially distilled ethanol, industrial alcohol finds use in a broad spectrum of applications ranging from biofuel and personal care to pharmaceuticals, all of which will witness the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic now and in the coming years. Although, there is now increased demand forethanol used in hand sanitizers, the increase is unlikely to reduce the short-term pain for the industry in the year 2020. Hand sanitizers and disinfectants become one of the most sought after products in hospitals, nursing homes, offices and homes to reduce the risk of infection from coronavirus. Similar to other viral respiratory infections such as flu, novel coronavirus is spread through virus-laden droplets transferred from an infected person or by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers contain between 60 percent and 95 percent of isopropyl alcohol, ethanol or n-propanol are known to be very effective in killing the virus. Hence hand based sanitizers with more than 60% ethanol and 70% isopropanol is recommended for hand hygiene, primarily in healthcare settings. Against the backdrop of escalating demand for hand sanitizers and other disinfectants to tackle the spread of novel coronavirus, consumption of ethanol used in sanitizers now exceeds millions of gallons. Demand is expected to remain significant as every country is looking for strategies to control the spread and prevent their health systems from being overwhelmed. Amid the ongoing public health crisis, companies are ramping up production of industrial alcohol used in making of hand sanitizers and commercial disinfectants. Companies ranging from alcohol distillers to producers of biofuels are shifting to temporary production of industrial ethanol to address the widening supply gap.

Competitors identified in this market include, among others, BASF SE; Birla Sugar; Cargill, Incorporated; Cristalco SAS; Flint Hills Resources, LLC; Grain Processing Corporation; Green Plains Inc.; Greenfield Global Inc.; HPCL Biofuels Limited; MGP Ingredients; Raizen S.A.; Merck KGaA; The Andersons Inc.