Global Commercial Seaweed Market: Snapshot

Commercial seaweeds are a rich source of vitamins and mineral which have applications in a range of foods, personal care products, and healthcare. This is an edible type of algae which has extensive application across the food industry. Owing to this higher demand, the commercial seaweed market is expected to witness faster growth over the forecast period. Rising demand for seaweed-based food products is propelling the growth of the global commercial seaweed market.

Commercial seaweed has other application such as in fertilizers, medical, healthcare, and animal feed industry. Moreover, growing popularity if seaweed extract such as carrageenan and agar are fuelling the growth of the commercial seaweed market.

Growing applications of the commercial seaweed in the pharmaceutical sector are boosted growth of the market. Additionally, the seaweed has properties such as thickening and gelling which are extensively used in the hydrocolloid industries is propelling growth of the global commercial seaweed market. In addition, numerous government has imposed stringent regulation on consumption and harvesting of the seaweed. However, seaweed is one of the major food in the Asia Pacific region and growing consumption of seaweed globally is offering lucrative opportunities for key players operating in the market.

According to the TMR, the global commercial seaweed market was valued at US$10,570.3 mn in 2016 and is expected to decline with 10.8% CAGR over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025 to reach a value of US$26,107.9 mn by the end of forecast period. On the basis of volume, the global commercial seaweed market is projected to expand with a CAGR of 9.9% over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.

Growing retails segment to Boost Market Growth

On the basis of the product, the global commercial seaweed market is segmented into red seaweed, brown seaweed, and green seaweed. Of these, the red seaweed segment accounted for the leading share of about 52.6% in the overall market for commercial seaweed in 2016. The segment is expected to remain as dominant over the global market for commercial seaweed in terms of revenue over the forecast period. In terms of volume, the brown seaweed accounted for the major share in 2016 in the overall market due to growing supply and availability of the wide-ranging seaweed.

High Demand from Asia Pacific to Remain Dominant

On the basis of region, the global commercial seaweed market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these, Asia Pacific dominated the market for commercial seaweed in 2016 by accounting share of more than 60%. This growth of the region is attributable to the presence of developing countries such as Japan, China, and India. The Europe region accounted for the second-largest share in the commercial seaweed market. In both the regions, the demand for alginate and agar-based hydrocolloids has surged substantially over the forecast period. However, demand for commercial seaweed is growing from North America and is expected to remain over the forecast period.

Some of the key players operating in the commercial seaweed market are Cargill Corporation, CP Kelco, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, CEAMSA, and Acadian Seaplants Ltd. the commercial seaweed market is extremely competitive owing to numerous players operating in the market. In order to gain a competitive edge, these manufacturers are increasingly launching new products and research and development activities.