ECONOMY
US chemical output set to rise in 2019 But trade conflicts and slowing foreign demand could moderate the industry’s prospects predicts that next year, US industrial The US will benefit from strong job activity will continue growth, moderate inflato expand but that an tion, and a good investeconomic slowdown that ment climate in 2019, is now underway in overaccording to the Amerseas markets, coupled ican Chemistry Council with rising trade ten(ACC), the US chemical sions, presents “a risk of industry’s major trade economic disruption.” association. Even though On the plus side for it is concerned about risUS chemical producers ing interest rates and the are surging domestic impact of tariffs, the ACC energy supplies and predicts that US chemiIncrease in U.S. chemical increased availability of cal output will rise 3.6% production in 2018 ethane, a key raw materiin 2019 following a 3.1% al obtained from natural increase this year. gas. Because of the shale“Expansion across a gas revolution, chemical broad band of industrial makers have committed sectors is supporting $202 billion since 2010 American economic Expected increase in U.S. for 333 new chemical growth this year,” says chemical production in 2019 plants, 40% of which are Kevin Swift, the ACC’s Source: American Chemistry Council. Note: Excludes pharmaceuticals. still in the planning stage, chief economist. He
C&EN Global Enterp 2018.96:11-11. Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNIV on 12/31/18. For personal use only.
Forecast: U.S. chemical production will rise again in 2019
3.1%
3.6%
notes Martha Moore, the trade group’s economic and policy director. As that production capacity comes on line, US exports will surge, Moore predicts. Assuming no major trade disruptions, the US will post a chemical-trade surplus of $39 billion in 2018 and $69 billion by 2023, she says. Outside the US, predictions are less optimistic. The European Chemical Industry Council anticipates 0.5% production growth in 2019 following a 0.5% decline this year. The group cautions that trade tensions among the US, China, and Europe, plus uncertainty about the UK’s approaching Brexit from the European Union, could dampen the expected uptick. In Germany, Europe’s largest chemical maker, production is likely to rise 1.5% in 2019, according to the German Chemical Industry Association. Production this year is on track to increase 2.5%. The German association’s forecast includes pharmaceuticals, which are set to rise 11.5% this year. Excluding pharma, Germany’s chemical production will slip 1.5% this year.—MARC REISCH
FOOD INGREDIENTS
Newcomers head for zerocalorie sweetener market
C R E D I T: S H UT T E RSTO CK
Amyris and partners are latest to launch a fermentation-derived stevia sweetener Companies based on fermentation technology are pushing into the business of making rebaudioside M, a zero-calorie sweetener extracted from the stevia plant. The Bay Area biotech firm Amyris says it will launch a Reb M-based sweetener in 2019. It intends to produce the molecule from sugarcane syrup on a large scale via fermentation with modified microbes. Plant-extracted stevia sweeteners can contain bitter-tasting molecules, Amyris says. Reb M is considered the sweetest of steviol glycosides, but it exists in only tiny quantities in the stevia plant. Amyris has linked up with ASR Group, the cane-sugar refiner that owns the Domino Sugar and C&H Sugar brands. ASR has agreed to buy 80% of Amyris’s sweetener output for three years.
The company also has partnerships with Brazilian firms, including the cane-sugar producer Raízen. Shoppers in the South American country will be the first to try a tabletop sweetener version of Reb M, made with help from the Swiss flavor firm Givaudan. Amyris is not the only firm pursuing fermentation-derived steviol glycosides. Last month, Cargill and specialty chemical firm DSM linked up to produce rebaudioside M and D at a Cargill facility now under construction in Blair, Nebraska. Yet plant-derived stevia sweeteners have a big head start over the new competition. At PureCircle, a stevia supplier to the food industry, CEO Magomet Malsagov disputes the idea that plant-based sweeteners are low purity. “Our products are 95–98%
Amyris will launch a new zero-calorie sweetener for foods, beverages, and tabletop packets. pure,” he tells C&EN. Malsagov says brands prefer ingredients made directly from plants. The new sweeteners have an opportunity to horn in on the artificial sweetener market, suggests Kantha Shelke, principal at the food science and research firm Corvus Blue. Taste will be more important than cost in appealing to food and beverage formulators, Shelke adds. “People are really tired of bad-tasting sugar alternatives.”—MELODY BOMGARDNER DECEMBER 10/17, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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