China Sodium Gluconate Market Assessment, By Grade [Food Grade, Industrial Grade, Pharma Grade, Others], By Application [Chelating Agent, Water Reducer, pH Adjuster, Stabilizer & Thickener, Superplasticizer, Others], By End-user [Food & Beverages, Personal Care, Cleaners & Detergents, Feed & Pet Food, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Constructions, Others], By Region, Opportunities and Forecast, 2016-2030F
China Sodium Gluconate Market size was valued at USD 139.6 million in 2022, which is expected to reach USD 192.5 million in 2030, with a CAGR of 4.1% for the forecast period between 2023 and 2030. Sodium gluconate is a water-soluble compound which is produced by fermentation of glucose and is a sodium salt of gluconic acid. Glucose an essential raw material for production of sodium gluconate, and in China glucose is commercially produced from corn starch. The market value of corn in China is considered as a prominent influencing factor for the production cost of glucose and sodium gluconate. China is progressively growing in the export market of sodium gluconate, compared to around 89 countries including Turkey, India, United Arab Emirates, Japan, etc. In November 2018, Department of Commerce, and the International Trade Commerce (ITC) has stringently issued antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) on sodium gluconate and its derived products from China.
Sodium gluconate is polyhydroxy organic salt that readily solubilizes in water, mildly soluble in alkanol, and completely insoluble in ether. Due to its unique properties, sodium gluconate has wide applications in food, chemistry, industrial surfactants, etc. With extensive application in all essential commodities, sodium gluconate has excellent market potential in China which continuously tend to rise with the increasing consumption of products.
Sodium Gluconate Application in Construction Industry to Drive the Market
With the growing real estate sector, construction materials are imperatively delivering their applications to build strength and robust infrastructure. Unique properties of sodium gluconate provide incredible characteristics for structural development in enhancing construction industry. It substantially improves the concrete breaking strength, elasticity, tensile strength, and increased adhesiveness to the steel bar. In addition to such effective applications, it provides extensive cement and concrete setting time by avoiding initial hydration of cement. By applying sodium gluconate, the durability performance of concrete such as anti-freezing and anti-carbonization can significantly be improved.
Concrete usually comprises of cement aggregates, admixtures, and water, and is prominently used in the building infrastructure. Sodium gluconate is progressively used as superplasticizer which reduces water to cement ratio (W/C) and substantially enhances maneuverability and strength along with lowering cement content. Simultaneously sodium gluconate can be used as retarder to optimize the clotting time and stabilizes phase structure of surface. With huge application of sodium gluconate in the construction industry, it has exponentially increased market opportunities with the rise in real estate.
Sodium Gluconate as Food Additives to Create Traction for the Market
Sodium gluconate is substantially recognized as a harmless food additive food grade compound. Food-grade sodium gluconate is imperatively important for the human body as it can increase the sodium content and remove the possibility of low sodium syndrome occurrence. Being considered as food grade, sodium gluconate has numerous benefits such as it reduces bitterness, excellent taste threshold, and lowers irritation. In the growing green food industry sodium gluconate delivers impeccable characteristics like nutritional supplements, quality improvers, pH buffers, and mostly food preservatives which can prominently enhance human health.
The indispensable requirement of providing better quality food products is rising due to the growing concerns on human health. Food grade sodium gluconate is a functional flavoring, prevents protein denaturation, improves food taste, and eradicates bitter taste and astringency. Sodium gluconate can be superior to several organic acid salts in covering fish odor and magnesium ions bitterness. Sweeteners like aspartame and saccharin tastes can be optimized by adding relevant amount of sodium gluconate. Such diverse applications of sodium gluconate create market demand in China food and beverage sector, which drives the China sodium gluconate market.
Growing Demand for Sodium Gluconate as Chelating Agent
Sodium gluconate produced by the fermentation of glucose possesses excellent chelating properties and can be used extensively as a chelating agent. It has a unique configuration, where the oxygen atoms are closely positioned in proximity within the structure, imparts functional characteristic as a highly chelating compound, and gradually forms stable complexes with different ions, substantially preventing them from participating in any chemical reactions.
Its application as a chelating agent can be extensively found in cement, plating, and alumina dyeing industries. It can effectively work as a chelating agent over a wide range of pH values and effectively forms stable chelates with divalent and trivalent metal ions such as calcium, copper, aluminum, etc. While manufacturing industrial detergents, sodium gluconate is extensively used as a complexing agent where the addition to the solution reacts with calcium ions to form a soluble chelate compound. Extending its chelating properties to the skin conditioning in cosmetic and personal care products. The market of sodium gluconate as a chelating agent is progressively growing, which generates excellent potential to expand in China.
Impact of COVID-19
The outbreak of COVID-19 has exacerbated the decline in the economic growth of different sectors. Temporary olfactory dysfunction was seen in many infected patients with COVID-19. Sodium gluconate with its unique structural configuration proved as an effective chelating agent and a water-soluble salt. It limited the calcium elevation in the nasal secretions, ultimately reducing the adverse effects on olfactory functions. During COVID-19, the usage of sodium gluconate increased in the pharmaceutical sectors with the increased demand in producing effective nasal related drugs. During the pandemic, the market for sodium gluconate was growing effectively, encouraging more companies to invest and generate huge market for sodium gluconate in China.
Impact of Russia-Ukraine War
The aggression of Russia on Ukraine has severely impacted different level of economic growth including China. Disruptions in trade dynamics between China and both conflicted nations have prominently affected production and demand of sodium gluconate. The pressure of price variations, demand-supply implications, and the important parameters regulated the sodium gluconate market in China. The surprised annexation has substantially rolled out the mass production of sodium gluconate according to the demand in various essential products. But with the growing market commodities, sodium gluconate production is resume while generating successive market potential across chemical industries in China.
Key Players Landscape and Outlook
Chemical manufacturing industries in China are growing in producing sodium gluconate as the huge requirement of the compound across incorporating in various essential daily goods. Bailin Group Co., Ltd., one of China's largest manufacturers of sodium gluconate, has an annual output of approx. 150,000 tons, successively became the largest producer in the northeast region of China. They progressively produce sodium gluconate for different categories of usage, where the maximum quantity is for food-grade sodium gluconate. Along with food additives, they produce various functional sodium gluconate for steel surface cleaning agents, as a chelating agent, mortar sodium gluconate for concrete cement, in the textile industry, and numerous industrial-grade products. China is a mass producer of different grades of sodium gluconate, making it a never-ending market for sodium gluconate.