The sodium alginate industry is highly concentrated and the market penetration rate is insufficient.

Sodium alginate, also known as sodium alginate, kelp gum, alginate, and alginate, is a white or light yellow powder or granule, odorless and tasteless, easily soluble in water, and its aqueous solution is a viscous colloid, insoluble in alcohol, etc. Organic solvents. Sodium alginate is widely used in food, medicine, textile, printing and dyeing, papermaking, daily chemicals and other industries. In the food industry, sodium alginate is mainly used as a stabilizer and thickener for cold drinks, pastries, candies, instant drinks, etc. , emulsifiers, dispersants and coagulants, etc. In addition, sodium alginate can also be used as medical dressings or pharmaceutical excipients with controlled release functions, as well as pastes, warp sizings, and water-soluble fibers for the manufacturing of lace in the textile printing and dyeing industry.

Sodium alginate is not only a safe food additive, but also can be used as a base material for bionic food or therapeutic food. Mainly because sodium alginate is an excellent natural dietary fiber that can slow down the absorption of fatty acids and bile salts, has the effect of reducing serum cholesterol, blood triglycerides and blood sugar, and can prevent modern diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. sick. Moreover, sodium alginate can inhibit the accumulation of harmful metals such as strontium, cadmium, lead, etc. in the intestine.

As far as the raw materials extracted from the upstream are concerned, sodium alginate is an extract of seaweed. The high-quality and large supply of seaweed directly affects the development of the sodium alginate industry. China needs to import seaweed plants such as Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus algae, and macroalgae from South American countries such as Chile and Argentina every year. Since March 2021, especially Chile, the main exporter of seaweed, has blocked its borders due to the epidemic. It has been difficult for China to import high-quality seaweed from Chile on a large scale. In addition, the domestic seaweed farming industry has been sluggish, resulting in a shortage of high-quality seaweed resources and further promoting the consumption of seaweed and its downstream products. The price of sodium acid has risen sharply, which has a great impact on the development of the industry.

In terms of midstream sodium alginate production, China, as the world’s largest sodium alginate producer, not only has the world’s largest sodium alginate company, Qingdao Mingyue Seaweed Group Co., Ltd., but also has other companies with relatively leading sodium alginate production and output values. , such as Qingdao Judayang Algae Industry Group Co., Ltd., Lianyungang Tiantian Seaweed Industry Co., Ltd., Qingdao Rongde Seaweed Co., Ltd., etc. According to the“China Sodium Alginate Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2021-2025” released by the Industrial Research Center, In 2020, the global sodium alginate production was 49,100 tons, of which China’s sodium alginate production was 34,800 tons.

From the perspective of downstream application fields, in the early days, industrialized sodium alginate was mostly used in the industrial field. With the development of technology and the improvement of product purity, the application of industrially produced sodium alginate in the food field has been greatly expanded. With the deepening of research, the development of purification technology and the improvement of application level, the application of sodium alginate in high-end fields such as medicine has increased, such as its application in Alzheimer’s disease treatment drugs. The improvement of sodium alginate production technology and the expansion of application fields have expanded the size of the sodium alginate market and stimulated the sustainable and high-quality development of the industry.

Industry researchers said that with the deepening of research and people’s deepening understanding of sodium alginate, sodium alginate has gradually grown from low to low Ordinary applications with high technical content are shifting to more advanced high value-added applications. The purity of sodium alginate products continues to improve, and the application fields continue to expand, especially in medical and health care applications, which has greatly improved the application level of sodium alginate, prompting the sodium alginate industry to accelerate technology and product research and development, and based on new products, new Develop new applications of technology to promote the high-end development of sodium alginate products.