Toiletries Market

December 15, 2011 — The Editors

Manufacturers of toiletries&madsh;that whole long list of things found in the bathroom for personal care, shampoo, deodorant, hand lotion, face crème, foot crème, toothpaste, perfume, hair mouse, etc.—saw robust growth over the period 1997 through 2007 but lost many of those gains between 2007 and 2009, a pattern repeated in so many industries.

Today’s market size is the size of hte toiletries market as measured by U.S. manufacturers’ shipments in 1997, 2007, and 2009.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997, 2007 and 2009
Market size: $24.3, $48.8 and 38.5 billion respectively
Source: 1997 Economic Census, 2007 Economic Census, and the 2009 Annual Survey of Manufactures.
Original source: U.S. Census Bureau
Posted on December 15, 2011

Posted in Chemicals, Dental Care, Hair Care Products, Personal Care Products. No Comments »

Bio-Based Manufacturing

November 4, 2011 — The Editors

In 2011, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry introduced her “Grow It Here, Make It Here” initiative to spur growth in the emerging bio-based manufacturing industry. The initiative would provide a 30% tax cut for new, expanded, or re-equipped bio-manufacturing projects. Bio-based manufacturing uses agricultural goods, such as soy and wheat, to make value-added products, such as car parts, cleaning products, and plastics. This is not a new concept. Henry Ford used Michigan-grown soy and other agricultural products in his automobiles. In recently years, more and more automakers are using parts made from agricultural products. An example: the seats of the new Ford Focus and the Chevy Volt are made of Michigan-grown soy material.

Currently bio-based products represent 4% of the plastic and chemical industry market. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the potential market for bio-based plastic and chemicals could reach 20% by 2025 with federal policy support. Some studies show that if that 20% is reached, it would create more than 100,000 American jobs. This does, however, assume that agricultural production is able to keep up with strongly increasing demand and do so while maintaining competitive prices. Today’s market size is the estimated, current value of the bio-based economy in the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market Size: $1.25 Trillion
Source: “Stabenow Announces ‘Grow It Here, Make It Here’ Initiative to Advance Emerging Michigan Industry in Zeeland,” October 24, 2011, available online here.
Posted on November 4, 2011

Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals, Fabric & Fiber, Natural Resources, Plastic. 1 Comment »

Dietary Supplements

August 29, 2011 — The Editors

There is a large market for dietary supplements in the United States. This market includes a wide variety of ingestible products designed to do things such as help you lose weight, increase sexual desire, increase muscle mass, reduce cholestorol, increase brain function, and others yet. Vitamins and multivitamins are part of this market but drugs that need and carry a Federal Drug Administration approval are not.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2005 and 2010
Market size: $21.3 and $28.1 billion respectively
Source: Natasha Singer, “Here’s to Your Health, So They Claim,” New York Times, SundayBusiness, page 1, August 28, 2011, available online here.
Original source: Nutrition Business Journal

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Salt

June 15, 2011 — The Editors

World production of salt has grown at just above the rate of population growth over the last quarter century or so—global salt production grew by 35% while world population grew by 38% between 1985 and 2007. Salt is used in many ways, in the treatment of water, in agricultural applications, as an industrial input, in deicing operations and as a spice or food additive. In the United States, food grade salt is the smallest of the categories of salt by end use. In fact, nearly two thirds of U.S. salt consumption annually is related to the deicing of roadways. This makes us wonder (with a bit of tongue in cheek) whether looking at changes in the number of paved roads there are in the northern reaches of the northern hemisphere and the southern reaches of the southern hemisphere may be a better gauge for predicting future salt demand in the world.

Today’s market size is the quantity of salt producted worldwide in 1985 and in 2007, measured in millions of metric tons.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 1985 and 2007
Market size: 190.6 and 257.0 million metric tons respectively
Source: “World Salt Production,” a spreadsheet presented on the Salt Institute’s web page, available online here.

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Bulgarian Rose Oil

June 14, 2011 — The Editors

Rose Pedals

In 2004, supported by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, then-Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, and the German non-governmental organization Welthungerhilfe, a project was started in Afghanistan to cultivate Bulgarian Roses as an alternative to growing opium. Bulgarian Roses are unique in that they are cultivated for their oil, which is used in expensive perfumes. The total amount of rose oil produced in the world was 4,000 kilograms in 2010, most of that grown in the Rose Valley of Bulgaria. It takes 3,500 kilograms of rose petals to produce one kilogram of rose oil. One kilogram of rose oil sells for around 4,000-5,000 euros. Although small-scale, the rose oil industry in Afghanistan provides a living wage for 5,000 people. The market size shown is the amount of rose oil produced in Afghanistan in 2010.

Geographic reference: Afghanistan
Year: 2010
Market size: 30 kilograms valued at approximately €135,000
Source: Sofia News Agency, “Afghanistan Shows Off Own ‘Bulgarian Rose’ Oil,” novinite.com, January 24, 2011 [Online] here. The image used comes from an online article titled “Extract of Bulgarian Rose Oil Contains in Italian Parfume,” published on June 20, 2007 [Online] here.

Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals, Skin Care Products. No Comments »

Indian Agrochemical Market

June 10, 2011 — The Editors

India is the fourth largest producer of agrochemicals in the world, behind the United States, Japan, and China. An estimated $17 billion worth of crops are lost every year due to non-use of pesticides. Recently the biofertilizer sector has been trying to educate farmers about biofertilizers and biopesticides in hopes that they will switch from the chemical fertilizers and pesticides to the natural ones. Biopesticides are derived from natural materials such as animal and plant bacteria and certain minerals. According to the source, unlike chemical fertilizers, biofertilizers are effective, nontoxic, and do not lead to the deterioration in quality or fertility of land. Data for 2012 are projected.

Geographic reference: India
Year: 2008 and 2012
Market size: $1.22 billion and $1.70 billion, respectively
Source: “Indian Agrochemical Industry Expected to Grow to 1.7 Bn by 2012,” The Economic Times, March 2, 2011 [Online] here.

Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals. 1 Comment »

Helium, Grade-A

June 6, 2011 — The Editors

Helium production and consumption

For those not involved in one of the industries in which helium is an input, the term may conjure images of party balloons. But, helium is used in a variety of industrial applications. In the United States its end users break down in the following categories: 32% for cryogenic applications; 18% for pressurizing and purging applications; 13% is used for welding; 18% for controlled atmospheres; 4% for leak detection; 2% for breathing mixtures and the remaining 13% for other applications, like party balloons.

Today’s market size is the estimated value of domestically extracted grade-A helium in 2010. The graphic shows production and apparent consumption figures for a period of 30 years, from 1980 — 2010. Apparent consumption is a calculated figure based on production, plus imports, less exports plus or minus change in stock.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $730 million
Source: “Helium Statistics and Information,” part of a series of reports on different minerals and commodities produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Posted in Chemicals, Mining, Oil & Gas. 3 Comments »

Sodium Sulfate

May 10, 2011 — The Editors

Sodium sulfate is an inorganic chemical that looks like a white powder. Its chemical symbol is NA2 SO4. Sodium sulfate is used in the production of many products. Soaps and detergents account for the largest single share (35%) of its consumption. Other end uses of sodium sulfate include glass manufacturing which accounts for 18% of consumption, the paper and pulp industry uses 15%, and textile production account for 4% of consumption in the United States. The remaining 28% of consumption is divided among many smaller consuming end users.

The market size presented below is the estimated total value of all natural and synthetic sodium sulfate sold in 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $42 Million
Source: “Sodium Sulfate Statistics Information,” part of an annual series titled Mineral Commodities Summaries, published by the U.S. Geographical Survey and available online here.
Original Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS

Posted in Chemicals, Household products, Paper Products. 2 Comments »

Lice Treatments

October 8, 2010 — The Editors

With recent news about the reemergence of a bedbug infestation, we are reminded that the little pests that infest our lives from time to time must be dealt with over and over again. Lice are such pests and while not spoken of very often, the size of the market for lice treatments suggests that many battle these little pests in silence, behind closed doors.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2009
Market size: $65.88 Million
Source: MMR, April 19, 2010, p. 69.
Original source: SymphonyIRI

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Vitamin Supplements

October 7, 2010 — The Editors

Multivitamin tablets, powders and liquids dominate this category with 55% of the total vitamin supplement market. Vitamin B is the second largest category with 13% followed by vitamin C which represents 11% of the market.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2008
Market size: $8.5 Billion
Source: National Foods Merchandiser, September 2009, p. 22.
Original source: Nutrition Business Journal

Posted in Chemicals, Market Size, Vitamins. No Comments »
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