88
4 Alginates
4.8 Commercial Production
Alginate was discovered in 1882, and its commercial production was first established
in San Diego in the USA in 1927. Production of alginate in the UK followed between
1934 and 1939 years later began in Norway (McHugh 1987). Today alginate is being
produced commercially in countries in Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific and Asia.
From its first use as a binder for briquette production to now being used in various
industries from food to textiles to pharmaceuticals alginate application has advanced
through the years across different industries.
Compared to some lesser-explored biopolymers, alginate is moderately well
explored commercially in various industries. Annual production of alginate from
seaweed is estimated at 38,000 tonnes (Venkatesan et al. 2014). Alginate production
from bacteria is yet to be commercialized. The world alginate market is estimated
to be worth 624 million USD as of 2016. The highest demand for alginate to date
is in the food industry where they find various applications (note this is different
from the direct consumption of seaweed as food). As the world population increases
and the level of civilization increases, demand for processed foods is expected to
consequently increase and alongside this will be increased in demand for food processing agents such as ice cream, beer and packaged meat, all of which require the
use of alginate of one form or the other in their processing. Propylene glycol alginate
has shown steady rise in market revenue between 2014 and 2018. It is expected to
show further increase in market size for the next 7 years. Sodium alginate which is
also in high demand in the food industry shows similar steady reported and potential increase. Although calcium and potassium have lower rate of production in the
industry, they are also expected to show increase in revenue over the coming years,
especially as more novel applications for these forms of alginate emerge.
Cost of production of algae is still relatively higher compared to the commercial
production of well-established mechanized crop farming of crops such as corn and
soya bean. Each dry tonne of L. japonica costs between 650 and 700 USD to produce
in China and producing the carrageenan-producing species of seaweeds in Mexico
costs around 689 USD. This is higher than the estimated cost of producing corn and
soybeans in the USA which are estimated at 195 USD and 408 USD, respectively
(Forster and Radulovich 2015).
Alginates with higher guluronic acid content are in higher demand in the food
industry since this offers better gelling properties. While alginates with high M offer
better viscosity-enhancing property, other polymers exist which offer similar, and
however, the superior gelling properties are more unique to alginate. The demand
for alginate with higher guluronic acid is estimated to grow at a rate of 4.8ˆ CAGR
between 2016 and 2025.
Manauronic rich alginate finds more use in the textiles and paper industry where
their viscosity-enhancing properties are more valued. The superior binding properties
of alginate also makes it useful as welding rod as more developing countries begin
to focus on the development of manufacturing and construction, easily sourced raw
materials from renewable sources such as alginate begins to increase in demand.
4 Alginates
4.8 Commercial Production
Alginate was discovered in 1882, and its commercial production was first established
in San Diego in the USA in 1927. Production of alginate in the UK followed between
1934 and 1939 years later began in Norway (McHugh 1987). Today alginate is being
produced commercially in countries in Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific and Asia.
From its first use as a binder for briquette production to now being used in various
industries from food to textiles to pharmaceuticals alginate application has advanced
through the years across different industries.
Compared to some lesser-explored biopolymers, alginate is moderately well
explored commercially in various industries. Annual production of alginate from
seaweed is estimated at 38,000 tonnes (Venkatesan et al. 2014). Alginate production
from bacteria is yet to be commercialized. The world alginate market is estimated
to be worth 624 million USD as of 2016. The highest demand for alginate to date
is in the food industry where they find various applications (note this is different
from the direct consumption of seaweed as food). As the world population increases
and the level of civilization increases, demand for processed foods is expected to
consequently increase and alongside this will be increased in demand for food processing agents such as ice cream, beer and packaged meat, all of which require the
use of alginate of one form or the other in their processing. Propylene glycol alginate
has shown steady rise in market revenue between 2014 and 2018. It is expected to
show further increase in market size for the next 7 years. Sodium alginate which is
also in high demand in the food industry shows similar steady reported and potential increase. Although calcium and potassium have lower rate of production in the
industry, they are also expected to show increase in revenue over the coming years,
especially as more novel applications for these forms of alginate emerge.
Cost of production of algae is still relatively higher compared to the commercial
production of well-established mechanized crop farming of crops such as corn and
soya bean. Each dry tonne of L. japonica costs between 650 and 700 USD to produce
in China and producing the carrageenan-producing species of seaweeds in Mexico
costs around 689 USD. This is higher than the estimated cost of producing corn and
soybeans in the USA which are estimated at 195 USD and 408 USD, respectively
(Forster and Radulovich 2015).
Alginates with higher guluronic acid content are in higher demand in the food
industry since this offers better gelling properties. While alginates with high M offer
better viscosity-enhancing property, other polymers exist which offer similar, and
however, the superior gelling properties are more unique to alginate. The demand
for alginate with higher guluronic acid is estimated to grow at a rate of 4.8ˆ CAGR
between 2016 and 2025.
Manauronic rich alginate finds more use in the textiles and paper industry where
their viscosity-enhancing properties are more valued. The superior binding properties
of alginate also makes it useful as welding rod as more developing countries begin
to focus on the development of manufacturing and construction, easily sourced raw
materials from renewable sources such as alginate begins to increase in demand.