According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), “catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction without modifying the overall standard Gibbs energy change in the reaction; the process is called catalysis.” During the production of fertilizers, especially nitrogenous and phosphate-based fertilizers, catalysts are added along with the raw materials for multiple functions, such as enhancing the efficiency of the reaction, attaining maximum conversion of raw materials, and reducing the environmental emissions during reactions. These catalysts used during fertilizer production have been included under the scope of this study.

Visionary leaders are the leading market players in terms of new developments such as product launches, innovative technologies, and the adoption of growth strategies. These players have a broad product offering that caters to most of the regions globally. Visionary leaders primarily focus on acquiring the leading market position through their strong financial capabilities and their well-established brand equity.

Dynamic Differentiators are established players with very strong business strategies. However, they have a weaker product portfolio compared to the visionary leaders. They generally focus only on a specific type of technology related to the product.

Innovators in the competitive leadership mapping are vendors that have demonstrated substantial product innovations as compared to their competitors. The companies have focused on product portfolios. However, they do not have very strong growth strategies for their overall business, when compared with the visionary leaders.

Emerging companies have niche product and service offerings. Their business strategies are not as strong as that of the established vendors. The emerging vendors include the new entrants in the market, emerging in terms of product portfolio and geographic reach, and require time to gain significant traction in the market.