Natural polymers demand in USA to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2012 to 2018

Natural polymers demand at US$4.95 bln in 2012 is expected to reach US$7.12 bln by 2018, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2012 to 2018, as per Transparency Market Research. Natural polymers are the polymeric derivatives of plants and animals sources. They include copolymers which contain synthetic compounds, namely starch and fermentation products, cellulose ethers, vegetable gums, protein based polymers, and marine polymers. The demand for natural polymers in the U.S. has been increasing at a healthy CAGR due to increased consumption expenditure, construction activity, and nondurable goods shipments. The increase in demand for natural polymers in the medical industry has been driven by growing applications in osteoarthritis and pharmaceuticals treatments. Natural polymers outperform their synthetic counterpart in terms of environmental footprints. However, they significantly lack behind them in terms of cost, availability of raw materials, product inconsistence and supply uncertainties. The U.S. natural polymer market has been mainly driven by the increase in demand for non petroleum based and eco-friendly products. Natural polymers have been gaining popularity due to their growing demand in pharmaceutical applications such as excipients, binders and fillers in directly compressed drugs, wound dressing, treatment of arthritic-afflicted joints, etc. The demand for natural polymers in the U.S. has been increasing at a healthy CAGR due to increased consumption expenditure, construction activity and shipments of non-durable goods. The increase in demand for natural polymers in the medical industry has been driven by growing applications in osteoarthritis and pharmaceutical treatments. Natural polymers outperform their synthetic counterpart in terms of environmental footprints. However, they significantly lag behind them in terms of cost, availability of raw materials, product inconsistence and supply uncertainties. With over 37% share of the total natural polymer consumption in the U.S. in 2012, cellulose ether was the most widely consumed natural polymer in the U.S. market due to high demand from the pharmaceutical, toiletries, cosmetics, construction, and food and beverage industries. Methyl cellulose led the cellulose ether polymers segment, while starch and fermentation products accounted for the second largest market segment in 2012. Further, this segment is expected to exhibit the fastest growth in terms of both volume and revenue due to rapidly growing demand from the packaging industry. The U.S. natural polymer market revenue was US$4646 million in 2011 and growth at a CAGR of 6.2% is expected from 2012 to 2018. Medical, oilfield, food & beverages and others including packaging, cosmetics and toiletries, adhesives, construction, paint and inks, and textiles and leather tanning are the major applications of natural polymers. In 2011, medical accounted for 25.3% of the total natural polymer application in U.S. The spur in the demand is due to the rise in the pharmaceutical application and osteoarthritis treatments. Food & beverage is the second largest segment which accounted for 21.5% of the total natural polymer application market share and it is expected to decrease to 18.2% based on mature applications. However, stringent environmental regulations imposed by governments, and growing awareness about deforestation and protection of animals are acting as barriers in the growth of the natural polymer industry. Moreover, easy availability of substitute products like synthetic polymer is also anticipated to arrest the growth of this market. The market for natural polymer is fragmented as the top four companies contribute less than fifty percent of the total market share. The market is significantly integrated through raw material, polymer manufacturing and application development of these polymers. The market is highly price sensitive and experience frequent price wars in order to gain competitive advantage. Key market participants include Ashland Inc., Dow Chemical, Economy Polymers & Chemicals, JM Huber, Novamont, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Plantic Technologies, Cargill Inc. an others.