Bio-based Chemicals Market $7 Billion by 2015, New Study Says

The Biorenewable chemicals market will grow to $7 billion by 2015, more than double the predicted value of the market in 2011, according to a new study from SBI Energy.

Platform and intermediate bio-based chemicals are projected to make up most of the growth. The US and the EU are the two biggest players, with 22% and 19% of market activity respectively. China is a big player in glycerin and lactic acid, but has not yet expanded greatly into other biorenewable chemicals.

 Platform chemicals (glycerin and lactic acid making up 96%) will constitute two-thirds of the market, and will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 22% for the five years to a value of $4 billion by 2015. This growth will be initially slower, gathering momentum later on in that 5-year period.

Intermediate chemicals will make up the remainder of growth, growing faster than the platform chemicals segment with a compound annual growth rate of 33% over the same period reaching a value of almost $3 billion in 2015. Several important products make up this segment; ethylene, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polylactide (PLA) and 1,3-propanediol (PDO). Annual production of PLA is expected to double, PDO is expected to triple and PHA is expected to quadruple until 2015. Ethylene will be the largest seller by volume, but the high production cost (and therefore cost at market) of PHA will mean that revenue is highest from PHA sales.

SBI Energy analyst, Robert Eckhard:
"The ever increasing price of oil is not the only driver pushing sales in the biorenewable chemicals market. In the near term, more support within regulations and legislations for funding and research and development is key to keeping the biorenewable chemicals market a lively and growing concern."

2010 has been a good year for platform biorenewable chemicals, with total sales expected to reach an estimated $1.8 billion. This is an 11% increase from 2009 when a drop in glycerin prices damaged revenue. Despite this drop, strong growth in the lactic acid market gives the segment a CAGR of 12% from 2006 to 2010. Intermediate biorenewable chemicals are predicted to reach approximately $575 million in 2010 as all categories within the segment (except biobutanol) are expected to grow. Polylactic acid and PHA made up 72% of the market in 2009.