According to a recently completed market study by business analysts Kline & Company, enterprises from China and India have been flooding the market with generic biocide products, driving prices down, suppressing profitability, and generally adding to the pressure already being felt by Western suppliers.

The least affected sectors in both the Western European and US markets is the plastics and resins end-use segment, particularly for silver-based biocides, which are more environmentally friendly, protect the integrity of plastics, and offer antimicrobial protection.

European sales of biocidal actives to the plastics and resins market are expected to grow by almost 5% over the next five years, with silver-based actives growing 10% annually. In the US, silver-based biocides used for plastics and resins are set to grow by 25% in the same time frame, albeit from a very small base.

At the other end of the spectrum, the leather tanning market for biocides is in a downward spiral, with much of the market now dominated by offshore suppliers in China and India.

Those that remain are diversifying their product lines to offer formulated biocidal products, as opposed to single active ingredients, in order to provide value-added products.