Chitosan Market Estimates And Trend Analysis By Application (Water Treatment, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical, Cosmetics, Food & Beverage), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, RoW), By Country, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global chitosan market size was estimated at USD 3.19 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to its rising application scope in water treatment, cosmetics, medical, and cosmetics industry.

The product is marketed under various product grades such as industrial, pharmaceutical and food & beverage depending upon the product purity. Increasing demand for the product in waste water treatment to remove impurities including oil, heavy minerals and phosphorous is expected to be the key driver for the growth over the forecast period.

U.S. chitosan market revenue, by application, 2014 - 2025 (USD million)

In the U.S., the market is primarily driven by the cost, availability, and purity of the product. The presence of few manufacturers with insufficient with high purity product volume is expected to hamper the industry growth. The region was highly dependent on Asia countries for chitosan over the past few years, however, upcoming key players including Agratech LLC and FMC Corporation are expected to open new avenues for the growth over the forecast period.

Japan dominated the industry accounting for 35% of the market in 2015. Early adoption of the product, especially for water treatment application in the region has resulted in the high growth. The regional manufacturers export chitosan for the North American and European market for various applications.

The pure grades of the product are not easily available in the market hence the manufacturers and distributors enjoy high margins on the product. The Japanese manufacturers are likely to face a strong competition from the emerging players from other countries such as China, India, and the U.S. owing to rapid growth and product penetration in the end-use industries including food & beverage, cosmetics, personal care, and agrochemical.

Application Insights

Chitosan demand in waste water was valued at over USD 220 million in 2015. Growing demand for waste water treatment in various end-use industries including the dairy, textile, paper & pulp, chemical and metal cutting is expected to propel demand over the next eight years. It has the potential to remove heavy metals from water, as a result, has wide application scope for treating industrial wastewater.

Global chitosan market share, by application, 2015 (%)

Cosmetics is expected to be a key application segment for the product and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 20% from 2016 to 2025. Increasing demand for chitosan in cosmetics is expected to grow at a significant rate owing to its fungistatic and bacteriostatic properties. Furthermore, growing demand for bio-based color cosmetics such as lipsticks, eye shadows, and nail polishes is expected to propel demand over the forecast period.

Regional Insights

Chitosan demand in food & beverage industry in Asia Pacific was valued over USD 45 million in 2015. The rapid growth of food & beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry in countries including China, Korea and India is expected to have a positive impact on the growth over the forecast period.

In Korea, Chitosan has been approved as a natural food additive, which is expected to propel its demand. The presence of key shrimp producing countries including Thailand and China is expected to be a key advantage in terms of raw material supply for chitosan market in this region.

Japan has been dominating the chitosan market over the past few years owing to the presence of abundant raw material coupled with early awareness regarding the benefits offered by the product.

The chitosan demand in Japan is primarily driven by water treatment application which accounts for over 60% of the total market share. Increasing demand for chitosan for manufacturing artificial skin and in wound dressing is expected to have a positive impact on the growth over the forecast period.

Competitive Insights

Ease of raw material availability coupled with rising application scope for different grades of the product in applications including pharmaceutical, food & beverage and cosmetics is expected to open new opportunities for the market entrants over the forecast period. In January 2014, TriStar Wellness Solutions, Inc. was awarded for launching a chitosan-based dental dressing product in the Japanese market.

Key players in the chitosan industry include Yunzhou Biochemistry Co., Advanced Biopolymers AS, Biophrame Technologies, United Chitotechnologies Inc., Koyo World (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co. Ltd., Agratech LLC., Kraeber & Co. GmbH, Foodchem International Corporation, and FMC Corporation.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the chitosan market on the basis of application, and region:

• Chitosan Market Application Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Water Treatment

  • Pharmaceutical & biomedical

  • Cosmetics

  • Food & beverage

  • Others

• Chitosan Market Regional Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

  • Europe

  • Japan

  • Asia Pacific

  • Rest of the World