Den grønne udvikling får virkning for den kemiske industri, fordi forbrugerne kræver flere bio-løsninger, og hvis industrien tager det til sig, kan der skabes et helt nyt investormarked på 16,5 milliarder dollar inden 2030, mener Morgan Stanley. Det kan især gavne europæiske virksomheder.
Uddrag fra Morgan Stanley:
The consumer mandate to go green has reached the chemicals industry, as manufacturers of shampoo, detergents, paints, packaging and other consumer products rethink their use of petrochemicals, turning instead to bio-based and other alternatives derived from renewable raw materials.
This increased focus by consumers on both wellness and climate change is resulting in a higher willingness to pay a “green premium” for formulations with better-perceived health implications. Consumers are demanding more transparency in product ingredients, according to a recent Morgan Stanley Research report. As a result, this shift to more environmentally friendly chemicals could come sooner than industry-watchers and investors once believed.
“The biochemical landscape is broad, diverse and growing,” says Navina Rajan, equity analyst on the Global Chemicals team and lead author of the report. “We now see a gravitation to bio-based chemicals, as awareness of petrochemicals’ perceived impact to well-being and the environment increases among corporates, consumers and governments.”
The shift could present significant opportunities for investors. The report notes that one area of this “biosphere”—biosurfactants, present in many personal-care and household products, such as shampoo and detergent—could jump from about 26% of the total surfactant market currently to about 39% by 2030, resulting in a roughly $16.5 billion market.
Further, the analysts believe products in other industries such as industrials, agriculture and food could see increasing use of bio-based surfactants through continued consumer pull, sustainability goals and higher functionality, offering the industry a more attractive and higher growth roadmap than with petrochemical versions.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bio-based feedstocks are replacing 300 million gallons of petroleum per year in the U.S. alone—or the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road each year in terms of CO2 emissions. By extension, if this ‘biosphere’ of chemicals was to grow at an annual 5% growth rate, it would equal taking 3.2 million cars off the road in the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley calculations.
By 2030, biosurfactants could make up roughly
39% of the total surfactant market
Regionally, Europe is leading the switch to bio-based ingredients from a production, consumer and policy perspective. The region has 224 biorefineries and significantly more government-led bio-based initiatives than either the U.S. or Asia.
This leaves some European companies particularly well-placed to take advantage of this trend, especially those with the largest commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities, and those that have led the way in the technology needed to make products like biosurfactants.
