According to the Market Report “Modified Starch Market: By Raw Materials (Corn, Tapioca, Potato, Wheat) By Application (Animal Feed, Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, Cosmetics) By Function (Thickening, Stabilizing, Emulsifying, Binding); By Geography- Forecast (2015-2020)”, published by IndustryARC, the modified starch market is estimated to reach $19.3 Billion by 2020 at a high CAGR.
Starch is a carbohydrate consisting of large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This starch is modified by physical, chemical and biotechnological means. The major application of this market is for food & beverage market where huge quantities are used on daily basis all over the globe. Modified starch imparts different functions such as thickening, binding, stabilizing, emulsifying and others across industries such as food, pharma, cosmetics, and so on.
Food & Beverage industry occupies major share in modified starch market, being one of the largest consumers of starch and related products. Followed by food & beverage, others category accounts for 29% which includes paper making market and textile market. Pharmaceutical industry occupies 13% market share in modified starch market where it acts as production element for the production of antibiotics, vitamins, penicillin, dialysis solutions, enteral nutrition, drip-feed systems, and even blood plasma substitutes in humans.
The Global market in 2015 was around $15.2 Billion and is dominated by Americas, which is poised to exhibit the fastest growth due to favorable macroeconomic conditions such as population growth and raising standards of living. The U.S is the major market for modified starch in North America followed by Mexico. On the other hand, China and India are the growth frontiers for the Modified starch manufacturers providing a huge potential market to be tapped. Other major market includes Europe, which accounted for a significant market share.
Modified starch offers numerous functional benefits in food and non-food applications. Due to the advancements in technology and availability of several modification techniques, the industry has developed variety of modified starches for their use in wide range of applications. Modified starches are used for fat replacement, improving texture, enriching the nutritional value for stability in high temperature conditions related to the food and animal feed industry. On the other hand, these ingredients have their use in paper industry for internal sizing, filter retention, paper coating; in construction industry for block binding, paint filling and as an adhesive; in cosmetics and Pharma Industries as a dusting and binding agent in make-up, face creams, pills, tablets. These ingredients also have their footprint in mining textile, metals, adhesives, leather, printed circuit boards and biodegradable plastic industries. The use of modified starch has been increasing with the growth in end-user industries as well as mounting list of applications.
The number of manufacturers across the world for Modified starch has increased manifold. These manufacturers are actively investing in scaling up its position in the market and are able to attract profitable deals. Some of the major players are Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill Inc., Ingredion Inc., Rouquette Group, Tate & Lyle Plc and many others. Major firms spend huge amounts of money in the development of efficient technologies and at the same time, new firms are coming up with cutting-edge technological innovations, resulting in tremendous increase in the degree of competition. Consequently, product launches, mergers and acquisitions and partnerships by companies, universities as well as individual researches has been frequenting the modified starch market headlines.
Cargill and Archer Daniel Midlands (ADM) are the Two Key Market Players in the Modified Starch Market. Cargill deals with thinned modified starch, stabilized starch, food starch, Cold Water Swelling starch and roll dried starch and produces various types under each category. Cargill and ADM together accounts for 28% of the total market share. ADM deals with the modified starch products that include corn starch and wheat starch and product names are Jeltec 3, Jeltec 8, acid-modified and more.
The overall modified starch market is characterized by large number of companies but top five companies account for 52% market share due to their wide distribution network and brand reputation. Rapid developments in emerging countries and use of innovative products and materials in modifying starch have supported the growth of the market. The new firms that venture into this market will need huge capital for investment in manufacturing and marketing along with offering product or pricing benefits to customers. The market is poised to exhibit new product launches and strategic acquisitions or partnerships, as major companies explore for new opportunities.