The increasing adoption of chitosan across various industries, including fisheries, food and beverages, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, bioplastics, and cosmetics, and rising research and development (R&D) activities related to chitosan are the major factors behind the growth of the global chitosan market. Moreover, the increasing requirement for chitosan in wastewater treatment applications and growing demand for bioactive materials are expected to benefit the industry. Due to the aforementioned factors, the industry is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period (2021–2030).
Governments have laid down strict lockdowns in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, most of the industries were negatively affected, except the healthcare industry, which saw a boom worldwide. During the pandemic, many researchers have identified chitosan as a potential agent for COVID-19 drug delivery systems, due to the flexible joining ability of chitosan with other molecules. Due to these factors, there is a positive impact of the pandemic on the market for chitosan.
The chitosan market is classified into shrimp, prawn, crab, lobster, and others, on the basis of source. Among these, the shrimp category held the largest share in the market, both in terms of volume and revenue, in the historical period (2015–2020). Moreover, it is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the ability of shrimps to produce high-quality and high-yield chitosan and high demand for shrimp chitosan.
The chitosan market is divided into water treatment, medical, food and beverages, agriculture, and others, on the basis of application. Among these, the water treatment category accounted for the dominating share in the market in 2020 owing to the coagulating properties of chitosan, which helps remove metal and non-metal ions from water.
Geographically, Asia-Pacific (APAC) was the largest market for chitosan during the historical period, and it is expected to retain its position in the coming years. This can be ascribed to the increasing R&D activities related to chitosan and high prevalence of chronic diseases in the region.
Players in the chitosan industry have been involved in launching new products to enhance their market presence. For instance,
In April 2020, Axio Biosolutions Private Limited launched MaxioCel, a wound dressing product made up of chitosan. This product offers faster healing with higher comfort, effective scar improvement, and significant pain relief.
Some of the major players operating in the global chitosan market are Primex ehf, Heppe Medical Chitosan GmbH, Advanced Biopolymers AS, Meron Group, KitoZyme LLC, Golden-Shell Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., FMC Corporation, AgraTech International Inc., Axio Biosolutions Private Limited, Marshall Marine Products Private Limited, and Bio21 Co.