KBS - Chemical Manufacturing and Development - Market Insight

TECHNOLOGY Adoption of digitisation, AI, IoT technologies and Industry 4.0 frameworks is transforming the chemical sector. Companies are finding novel compounds faster, which accelerates product launches and opens new revenue streams. AI is being utilised in drug molecule design, benefitting chemical suppliers to pharma and optimising chemical processes through reducing costs and enabling scale-up of new products. Moreover, an AI-driven discovery platform such as Recursion offers an 18-month timeline vs the 42-month industry average. SUSTAINABILITY Environmental and sustainability factors are propelling growth, by way of opening new markets and attracting investment. The push for net-zero and greener products means chemical companies are developing and selling more bio-based and sustainable chemicals. Globally, there is rising demand for biopolymers, biodegradable packaging and sustainable ingredients. UK firms are at the forefront in these sub-sectors, e.g. Croda’s bio-based surfactants or renewably sourced materials from Synthomer.

The green chemicals market has grown nearly tenfold, from $11bn in 2015 to $100bn in the mid-2020s.