North America Biopesticides Market Watch

Date:07-09-2013

The report “North America Biopesticides Market 2013” shows that the North American biopesticides market is estimated to have been worth $497.3 million at user-level in 2010; an increase of approximately 27.5% from 2008. The US is the biggest user of microbials in the region with a market estimated to be worth $372.4 m (74.8% of the total), followed by Canada and, then, Mexico. The North American biopesticide sector in 2010 represented approximately 3.7% of the total pesticide market (3.6% in Canada, 6% in Mexico and 3.5% in the US).

Microbial Biopesticides

The North American microbial biopesticides market is estimated to have been worth $139.8 million at user-level in 2010; an increase of 10.3% since 2007. Although growth has been seen in some sectors, notably products based on Bacillus subtilis, sales of Bacillus thuringiensis for caterpillar control have either stagnated or, indeed, declined (notably in the forestry sector). The proportion of the microbials market taken by Bt-based products (including Bt H14 for mosquitoes) has decreased from an estimated 90% in the late 1990s to 51.2% in 2010.

The US is the biggest user of microbials in the region with a market estimated to be worth $110 million (79% of the total), followed by Mexico and, then, Canada, where insect pests are far less prevalent.

The fastest growing sectors in the US have been the fungicidal products based on Bacillus subtilis and fungal-based materials. Prospects for growth in sales in the US overall remain good although there is no evidence for the meteoric rise predicted earlier in the decade. The market in Mexico for Bacillus subtilis has increased and there is a steadily growing sector in locally-produced, fungal-based products. Sales are large and product is cheap. Canada is not a large user of either insecticides or fungicides but the prospects for growth are good in response to government encouragement and pesticide bans.

Although overall growth in the microbial biopesticide market in North America has not lived up to the expectations of the 1990s, the potential remains high and opportunities exist which have the potential to raise the total market to $250 million by 2020.