Opportunities for the fermentation-based chemical industry

This study assesses the competitiveness of bio-based feedstock from Northwest Europe (NW-EU) for the fermentation-based chemical industry. Key highlights include:

• NW-EU and sugar beets are surprisingly competitive
• Due to de-regulation, additional volumes will come on the market from 2017 onwards
• Current market for bio-based chemicals is still relatively small, but expected to grow with 6.5% CAGR until 2020
• Bio-based chemicals are an attractive market with high economic value-add (US$12 billion/year) in 2013
• Vertical and horizontal integration provide synergies, and strategic partnerships will be formed
• Business case for selected products shows that NW-EU is on par with the other regions and crops as a prime location of choice
• Given that non-financial factors can easily “flip the coin” for investors, regulators need to pay close attention to a level playing field

Northwest Europe is in a surprisingly strong position as a raw materials supplier to provide the worldwide fermentation industry with sugars and derivatives. This is shown in a study by Deloitte Netherlands into the competitive position of Northwestern European (NW-EU) crops, such as sugar beet as a raw material for the fermentation based chemical industry.

To date, little was known about the competitive position of raw materials from Western Europe, particularly sugar beets, compared with alternatives such as sugarcane from Brazil, dextrose from the U.S. and tapioca from Southeast Asia. This study provides this insight for bio-based raw materials from NW-EU (especially sugar beets) for the fermentation based chemical industry. It includes a supply/demand balance sheet of bio-based products and raw materials. Additionally, the study assesses current and future availability and prices of the most important raw materials. Different fermentation processing options are addressed and the competitive position of NW-EU and particularly the Netherlands.