World Bioplastics Industry

World Bioplastics Industry

Global demand to increase more than fourfold by 2013

Global demand for bioplastics, which include plastic resins that are biodegradable or derived from plant-based sources, will rise more than fourfold to 890,000 metric tons in 2013. This extraordinary growth will be fueled by a number of factors, including consumer demand for more environmentally-sustainable products, the development of bio-based feedstocks for commodity plastic resins, and increasing restrictions on the use of plastic products, particularly plastic bags. Most importantly, however, will be the expected continuation of high crude oil and natural gas prices, which will allow bioplastics to become more cost-competitive with petroleum-based resins. Looking ahead to 2018, world bioplastics demand is forecast to reach nearly two million metric tons, with a market value of over $5 billion.

Non-biodegradable plastics to be primary demand driver

Biodegradable plastics, such as starchbased resins, polylactic acid and degradable polyesters, accounted for the vast majority (nearly 90 percent) of bioplastics demand in 2008. Double-digit gains are expected to continue going forward, fueled in part by the emergence of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) -- such as MIREL resins from Telles -- on the commercial market. However, nonbiodegradable plant-based plastics will be the primary driver of bioplastics demand. In the next few years, Dow Chemical and Braskem are each planning to open plants in Brazil that will produce polyethylene from bio-based ethanol. Other firms are expected to open bio-based polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene facilities. As a result, demand for non-biodegradable plant-based plastics will increase from just 23,000 metric tons in 2008 to nearly 600,000 metric tons in 2013.

Asia/Pacific market to catch Western Europe

Western Europe was the largest regional market for bioplastics in 2008, accounting for about 40 percent of world demand. Bioplastics sales in the region benefit from strong consumer demand for biodegradable and plant-based products, a regulatory environment that favors bioplastics over petroleum resins, and an extensive infrastructure for composting. Going forward, however, more rapid growth in demand will be found in the Asia/Pacific region, which will become the equal of the West European market by 2013. Gains will be stimulated by strong demand in Japan, which has focused intently on the replacement of petroleumbased plastics. Other world regions, such as Latin America and Eastern Europe, will see stellar gains in bioplastics demand from a very small 2008 bsae.

World bioplastic production to shift from developed to developing countries

Currently, world bioplastics production is heavily concentrated in the developed countries of North America, Western Europe and Japan. This will change dramatically by 2013, as China is expected to open over 100,000 metric tons of new bioplastics capacity. Furthermore, once the planned bio-based polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride plants come online, Brazil will become the world’s leading producer of bioplastics in 2018.

Study coverage

The report presents historical demand data (1998, 2003 and 2008) plus forecasts for 2013 and 2018 by resin (e.g., starchbased, polylactic acid, PHAs, petroleumbased, bio-based polyethylene, bio-based polyesters, bio-based polyamides), market (e.g., packaging, nonpackaging), world regional market and for 12 major national markets. In addition, the study also considers key market environment factors, evaluates company market share and profiles 34 global industry players.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

II. MARKET ENVIRONMENT 4
General 4
World Economic Overview 4
Recent Historical Trends 5
World Economic Outlook 7
World Population Outlook 11
World Manufacturing Outlook 12
World Agricultural Outlook 14
Maize 16
Sugar Crops 18
World Plastics Overview 20
Plastics Demand 21
Plastics Production 24
Pricing Trends 25
World Converted Flexible Plastic Packaging Outlook 28
Regulatory & Environmental Considerations 31
Degradability Standards & Certification 31
Composting & Recycling 34
Legislation 36
Food Versus Industrial Crop Use 37

III. WORLD BIOPLASTICS OVERVIEW 39
General 39
Product Overview 40
Biodegradable 42
Starch-Based Resins 44
Polylactic Acid 47
Petroleum-Based Resins 50
PHAs 53
Other 56
Non-Biodegradable 58
Market Overview 63
Packaging 65
Packaging Film 67
Loose-Fill 68
Containers & Other 68
Nonpackaging 69
Bags 72
Foodservice Disposables 73
Automotive & Electronics 74
Agricultural Films 75
Other 76
Regional Overview 77
Demand 77
Production 80
Trade Flows 83

IV. NORTH AMERICA 85
General 85
Bioplastics Demand 86
United States 89
Canada 96
Mexico 101

V. WESTERN EUROPE 107
General 107
Bioplastics Demand 109
Germany 111
Italy 116
United Kingdom 122
France 127
Netherlands 132
Other Western Europe 137
Belgium 141
Norway 141
All Other 141

VI. ASIA/PACIFIC 144
General 144
Bioplastics Demand 146
Japan 149
China 156
South Korea 162
Other Asia/Pacific 168
Taiwan 173
Australia 173
All Other 174

VII. OTHER REGIONS 177
Latin America: General 177
Latin America: Bioplastics Demand 179
Brazil 181
Other Latin America 187
Eastern Europe 192
Africa/Mideast 198

VIII. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE 204
General 204
Market Share 206
Mergers & Acquisitions 210
Manufacturing Requirements 211
Research & Development 213
Marketing Strategies 215
Channels of Distribution 218
Competitive Strategies 220
Cooperative Agreements 221
Company Profiles 226
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company 227
Arkema SA 229
BASF SE 231
Biograde Limited, see Cardia Bioplastics Limited
BioMatera Incorporated 232
Biotec GmbH & Company, see Sphere and Stanelco
Braskem SA 233
Cardia Bioplastics Limited 234
Cargill Incorporated 236
Cereplast Incorporated 239
Dow Chemical Company 241
DuPont (EI) de Nemours 242
Eastman Chemical Company 245
EBM Biodegradable Materials Limited 246
FKuR Kunststoff GmbH 246
Grace Biotech Corporation 247
Innovia Films Limited 248
IRe Chemical Limited 250
Merquinsa 251
Metabolix Incorporated 252
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation 254
NatureWorks LLC, see Cargill Incorporated
Ningbo Tianan Biologic Material Company Limited 255
Novamont SpA 256
Perstorp AB 257
PGLA-1, see Cargill Incorporated
PHB Industrial SA 258
Plantic Technologies Limited 259
Rodenburg Biopolymers BV 261
Showa Denko KK 262
Solvay SA 263
Sphere SA 265
Stanelco plc 266
Synbra Holding BV 267
Teijin Limited 268
Telles LLC, see Archer-Daniels-Midland and Metabolix
Total SA 270
Zhejiang Hangzhou Xinfu Pharmaceutical Company
Limited 271
Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials Company Limited 272


LIST OF TABLES

SECTION I -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary Table 3

SECTION II -- MARKET ENVIRONMENT
1 World Gross Domestic Product by Region 10
2 World Population by Region 12
3 World Manufacturing Value Added by Region 14
4 World Agricultural Value Added by Region 16
5 World Plastic Resin Demand by Region 23
6 World Plastic Resin Production by Region 25
7 Plastic Resin Pricing 27
8 World Converted Flexible Plastic Packaging Demand
by Region 30

SECTION III -- WORLD BIOPLASTICS OVERVIEW
1 World Bioplastics Demand by Type 41
2 World Biodegradable Plastics Demand by Type 43
3 World Starch-Based Resin Demand by Region & Market 47
4 World Polylactic Acid Demand by Region & Market 50
5 World Petroleum-Based Bioplastic Demand
by Region & Market 53
6 World PHA Resin Demand by Region & Market 55
7 World Other Biodegradable Plastic Resin Demand
by Region & Market 58
8 World Non-Biodegradable Bioplastics Demand
by Type, Region & Market 62
9 World Bioplastics Demand by Market 64
10 World Packaging Demand for Bioplastics by Application
& Region 66
11 World Nonpackaging Demand for Bioplastics
by Application & Region 71
12 World Bioplastics Demand by Region 79
13 World Bioplastics Production by Region 82
14 World Bioplastics Net Exports by Region 84

SECTION IV -- NORTH AMERICA
1 North America -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 86
2 North America -- Bioplastics Demand by Type & Market 88

LIST OF TABLES
3 United States -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 92
4 United States -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 94
5 United States -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 96
6 Canada -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 98
7 Canada -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 99
8 Canada -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 101
9 Mexico -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 103
10 Mexico -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 104
11 Mexico -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 106

SECTION V -- WESTERN EUROPE
1 Western Europe -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 108
2 Western Europe -- Bioplastics Demand by Type & Market 110
3 Germany -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 113
4 Germany -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 114
5 Germany -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 116
6 Italy -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 118
7 Italy -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 120
8 Italy -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 121
9 United Kingdom -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 123
10 United Kingdom -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 125
11 United Kingdom -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 126
12 France -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 128
13 France -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 130
14 France -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 131
15 Netherlands -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 133
16 Netherlands -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 135
17 Netherlands -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 136
18 Other Western Europe -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 138
19 Other Western Europe -- Bioplastics Demand
by Country & Type 140
20 Other Western Europe -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 143

SECTION VI -- ASIA/PACIFIC
1 Asia/Pacific -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 146
2 Asia/Pacific -- Bioplastics Demand by Type & Market 148
(continued on next page)
3 Japan -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 151
4 Japan -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 153
5 Japan -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 155
6 China -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 158
7 China -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 160
8 China -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 162
9 South Korea -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 164
10 South Korea -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 166
11 South Korea -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 167
12 Other Asia/Pacific -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 170
13 Other Asia/Pacific -- Bioplastics Demand
by Country & Type 172
14 Other Asia/Pacific -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 176

SECTION VII -- OTHER REGIONS
1 Latin America -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 179
2 Latin America -- Bioplastics Demand by Type & Market 181
3 Brazil -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 183
4 Brazil -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 185
5 Brazil -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 187
6 Other Latin America -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 190
7 Other Latin America -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 191
8 Other Latin America -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 192
9 Eastern Europe -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 194
10 Eastern Europe -- Bioplastics Demand by Country & Type 196
11 Eastern Europe -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 197
12 Africa/Mideast -- Bioplastics Supply & Demand 200
13 Africa/Mideast -- Bioplastics Demand by Type 201
14 Africa/Mideast -- Bioplastics Demand by Market 203
SECTION VIII -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
1 Bioplastics Sales by Company, 2008 205
2 Selected Acquisitions & Divestitures 211
3 Selected Cooperative Agreements 223

LIST OF CHARTS

SECTION II -- MARKET ENVIRONMENT
1 World Maize Production by Region, 2008 18
2 World Sugar Crop Production by Region, 2008 20
3 World Plastic Resin Demand by Region, 2008 23
4 Plastic Resin Pricing Trends, 1998-2018 28

SECTION III -- WORLD BIOPLASTICS OVERVIEW
1 World Biodegradable Plastics Demand by Type,
1998-2018 44
2 World Non-Biodegradable Bioplastics Demand
by Type, 1998-2018 63
3 World Packaging Demand for Bioplastics
by Application, 2008 67
4 World Nonpackaging Demand for Bioplastics
by Application, 2008 72
5 Bioplastics Demand by Region, 1998-2018 80
6 Bioplastics Production by Region, 1998-2018 83

SECTION IV -- NORTH AMERICA
1 North America Bioplastics Demand by Country, 2008 89

SECTION V -- WESTERN EUROPE
1 Western Europe Bioplastics Demand by Country, 2008 111

SECTION VI -- ASIA/PACIFIC
1 Asia/Pacific Bioplastics Demand by Country, 2008 149

SECTION VIII -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
1 World Bioplastics Market Share, 2008 206