Lactic Acid Ester Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Increasing Use as Solvents in Electronics Sector - Lactic acid esters are widely used in cleaning formulations for semiconductor and electronic devices owing to their purity, safety, and optimum performance compared to other conventional solvents. China has been steadily scoring the highest revenue compared to other countries from the consumer electronics business and earned over USD 250 billion in 2022.
• Surge in the Production of Environmentally-friendly Agrochemicals–Lactic acid esters are biodegradable and thereby find greater demand from agrochemical industry in the manufacture of insecticides and pesticides. India produced around 70 thousand tons more pesticides in 2021 compared to its output in the year 2020, as per research.
• Growing Demand in Pharmaceutical Industry- Used in the manufacture of ointments and other medications, the global lactic acid ester market is expected to grow on the back of advancements in pharmaceutical industry. According to latest studies, the global pharmaceutical industry earned over USD 1200 billion in 2020, and has been steadily growing ever since.
• Upsurge in the Use as Flavoring in Food and Beverage Industry- Lactic acid ester not only enhances the flavor of food but acts as a preservative. The global food and beverage industry is expected to grow from around USD 420 billion in 2021 to a little over a trillion dollar by the end of the forecast period.
• Growth in Construction Industry –Lactic acid ether act as a great ingredient for the chemical formulation of coatings, paints, cleaners, and others. Therefore, the rise in the construction industry is to surge the demand of paints and coating which in turn boost the need for lactic acid ether. According to the United States Census Bureau, around USD 1777 billion was spent on construction in the US in July 2022, about 8% more compared to the year before.

Challenges

• Complications Related to the Esterification of Lactic Acid- the process of manufacturing lactic acid ether is very complicated. Producing the lactic acid ether includes producing ammonium lactate by digesting the carbohydrate material with a lactic-acid-generating bacterium when NH3 is present. This is a very tedious process thus making the process really complicated.
• Competing Presence of Other Solvents in the Market
• Higher Costs of Lactic Acid Ester