The renewable chemicals market includes all the chemicals obtained from renewable feedstock such as agricultural raw materials, agricultural waste products or biomass microorganisms, and so on. The benefits of the development of this market are that it would reduce the dependence on conventional fossil fuel sources, would also help to diversify the feedstock portfolio.
The renewable chemicals market is currently facing considerable competition from conventional chemicals derived from petrochemical feedstock; because the renewable chemicals market is susceptible to the volatility in crude oil prices, rising environmental concerns and governmental litigations. Market participants are witnessing the need to make a paradigm shift from petrochemical feedstock to renewable feedstock. This move would not only bring in economic benefits, it would also successfully address the rising concern over greenhouse gas emissions and their lasting impact on the environment.
The threat of substitutes for renewable chemicals market is high. Presently, renewable chemicals account for a small share of the overall chemicals market. These renewable chemicals have higher prices when compared to the conventional chemicals. This ensures large availability of alternative chemicals for buyers and increases the chances of substitution. There are issues regarding the performance of some renewable chemicals which restricts its penetration in application markets. The increase in capacity utilization rate and new products launch are estimated to make the renewable chemicals market more competitive.
Companies such as BioAmber (Canada), Myriant Corporation (U.S.), Metabolix Inc. (U.S.), BASF SE (Germany), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Japan), Braskem (Brazil), Corbion N.V. (The Netherlands), NatureWorks LLC (U.S.), BioMCN (The Netherlands), have also been profiled in this report.
