17. Mar 2017

Biopolymer films market poised to exceed $6bn by 2024

Valued at over USD 3 billion in 2015, the global biopolymer films market is slated to cross USD 6 billion by 2024, according to a new report from Global Market Insights Inc. The major growth driver is the burgeoning food and beverage industry.

According to this latest research, the global food & beverage industry is likely to exhibit growth rates of close to 8% CAGR over the estimated timeframe. The overall food & beverage business in 2005 was roughly around USD 8 trillion and reached approximately USD 15 trillion in 2015 – a trend driven by, among other things, a growing middle class population with increased consumer spending power in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
The biopolymer film industry is also positively influenced by heightened consumer awareness of options such as food packaging films derived from bio-based sources such as polysaccharides (starch, cellulose) and proteins (soy, whey & gelatine). Also, the introduction of edible biopolymer films for the food industry provide added growth over the estimated timeframe. 

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Medical applications are another expanding area, owing to these materials’ biocompatibility. The product is used in medical applications such as controlled drug release, space filling implants and wound management. Robust growth in the medical field along with technological advancements, which have created widespread product applications in the medical industry will subsequently boost the overall biopolymer market size by 2024.

In addition, increasingly stringent legislation against use of synthetic and semi-synthetic films in food contact applications will ultimately boost demand in food packaging applications. This, is turn, will stimulate the global biopolymer market share over the estimated period.

While the product offers valued added advantages, including eco-friendly characteristics, biocompatibility and easy raw material availability, its relatively high cost in comparison with prevailing counterparts - semi-synthetic and synthetic films - may hamper the overall industry growth in the near future. Market prices for biopolymer films trend ranges from USD 3/kg to USD 3.5/kg. whereas, semi-synthetic and synthetic films range from USD 1.2/kg to 2/kg.

Additionally, comparatively low mechanical and vapor barrier properties of the product may hinder industry growth. However, technological advancements including ALD and multilayer has introduced products with properties up to industrial requirement and has thus created ample growth opportunities for the product manufacturers. In addition, legislation by the EPA and FDA favoring the use of eco-friendly films in the food packaging, medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic will further create new industry growth opportunities.

Promising gains are expected in particular for microbial synthesized biopolymer films by 2024. These materials are generally obtained through structural, intracellular and extracellular microorganism synthesis. Major raw materials in this segment include polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). The superior barrier and mechanical properties offered by this class of films will propel industry growth in this segment. Microbial synthesized are obtained generally from by structural, intracellular and extracellular microorganism synthesis.

Biopolymer Films Market, By Technology
The global biopolymer films industry share by multilayer films led the overall industry size and accounted for approximately half of the overall volume share in 2015. Single layer films are not suitable for personal care, food and medical for applications, because of their low barrier properties, seal ability and weak moisture resistance properties. Multilayer films are widely preferred in the industry as these perform well in commercial applications such as dry snacks, nuts, spices and dried fruits packaging.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD), a technology involving a layer on layer deposition process by self-emitting gas and solid reactions, is forecast to grow up to 5.5% between 2015 and 2024. This technology is widely used in PLA and PHB films to enhance their water vapor barrier and antimicrobial characteristics.

Biopolymer Films Market, By Product
PLA biopolymer films accounted for roughly around 25% of the global industry share in 2015. The product finds widespread applications in agriculture and food packaging industries. Strong growth indicators in these industries will subsequently boost the overall industry size in the near future. However, critical points related with the product such as low thermal resistance and low impact resistance may hinder the business growth by 2024.

The global PHB biopolymer films market share is likely to witness growth more than 5% between 2016 and 2024. PHB offers advantages equivalent to conventional petrochemical based films and is completely biodegradable. It possesses decent physical properties as compared to polypropylene (PP) for food packaging applications. In addition, it is entirely nontoxic. Favorable government regulations for non-hazardous food packaging materials will positively influence the overall business size by 2024.

Biopolymer Films Market, By End-user
The global biopolymer films market share for food packaging led the overall industry in 2015 and accounted for more than 35% of the industry share in 2015. Increasing demand for bio-based food packaging materials in the recent years particularly due to stringent legislations laid by EPA and FDA along with increasing consumer awareness regarding biodegradable product usage will stimulate industry size in the near future.

The global market size for agricultural applications is likely to observe gains more than 5% CAGR by 2024. These films are generally used for mulching, irrigation purposes and greenhouse components. In addition, these films in the recent years are used as a synthetic plastic and glass substitute in agriculture applications in order to reduce adverse environmental impacts. In addition, these are also used for cultivation of soft fruits and vegetables.

Biopolymer Films Market, By Region
North America, mainly led by the U.S. biopolymer films market size was more than USD 800 million in 2015. The regional growth is mainly attributed to robust product demand for food packaging application. The U.S. is one of the major package food industry share contributor. Thus, the region holds enormous product demand. Furthermore, prevalence of strict norms formulated by FDA in the U.S. for food packaging applications will substantially boost the regional industry size by 2024.

Asia Pacific is forecast to observe maximum gains between 2016 and 2024. The region is likely to led the overall market share by 2024, particularly due to increasing product demand for food packaging and medical applications. Increasing consumer spending pattern towards food, beverage and cosmetics will further complement regional growth over the estimated timeframe.

“Biopolymer Films Market Size By Raw Material (Bio-based, Microbial Synthesized, Synthetic, Partially Bio-based), By Technology (Sol-gel, Atomic Layer Deposition [ALD], Multilayer), By Product (PLA, PHB, PHA, PVA, Polyamide, Mulch, Cellophane), By End-user (Food & Beverage, Home & Personal Care, Medical & Pharmaceutical, Agriculture), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, GCC), Application Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 – 2024”

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