Magnesium Sulphate Market - Industry Analysis & forecast to 2023

Published On: March 2018

Magnesium Sulphate Market

Magnesium sulfate is a naturally occurring mineral and is commercially known as Epsom salt, which is a mixture of magnesium, oxygen, and sulfur. It is also produced synthetically by reacting sulphuric acid with magnesium, and oxides. Its flavor enhancing ability has established a commercial importance in the food and beverage industry and its consumption is increasing year by year. Moreover, the importance of magnesium sulfate for human health and plant nutrition has been well-established and is prominently consumed in related applications of both of this sectors. Plant nutrition sector holds the greater importance about the magnesium sulfate due to its use as a fertilizer.

The agriculture industry is going under tremendous pressure imposed by the governmental bodies to increase the crop yield with good quality food. Governments across the agricultural economies have been opting for favorable policies to increase the agriculture output and are investing a huge amount in research and development for technological development. Therefore, this industry is surely heading towards the growth expansion resulting into the greater consumption of fertilizers. The overall consumption of fertilizer in India was ~32 million tons in 2016. India is the third largest farm-based economy and is consistently supporting fertilizer growth. Thus, the agriculture industry as a whole likely to provide higher gains for magnesium sulfate driven by increasing fertilizer growth.  The market is also expecting a lucrative gains from personal care industry due to the fact that magnesium sulfate is being increasingly used in a range of applications in personal care products. As per the industry experts, the personal care applications of magnesium sulfate to grow at the highest growth rate and is likely to bring several product innovations due to the customization required from consumers. Therefore, the market could see some new growth opportunities over the assessment period of 2017-2023.

Increasing healthcare spending: An opportunity

Gone are the days, wherein health used to be the primary agenda for majority population across the globe. Globalization, technological reforms, and infrastructural developments have led to rapid lifestyle changes and resulting in heavy and hectic lifestyle pattern. Therefore, the priorities of most of the population have changed and health issues have shifted from primary to secondary. On the other hand, most of developing and developed economies have been going through parallel economic reforms, and they altogether have ended up with increased healthcare spending.

The relevance of the growth of this market with healthcare spending came into the picture when the WHO recommended magnesium sulfate as the first-line drug in the treatment of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia. As of 2016, total cases registered for eclampsia and pre-eclampsia were 4 million, among overall cases 1.96 million cases were left untreated by magnesium sulfate. On the split side, healthcare expenditure of various regions such as the Americas and Europe has increased significantly over the last decade.  According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in 2015, the U.S. healthcare spending is likely to increase by 5.8% annually and reaching USD 3.2 trillion. Taking into account the aforementioned spending power, it is concluded that increasing healthcare expenditure is likely to boost market effectiveness in terms of global demand.  

Industrial competition: A race toward survival

The global magnesium sulfate market is consist of few leading players who have been holding the control of the global market. However, the market has been influenced by the cosmetic industry players and may witness their penetration due to magnesium sulfate offers a range of application in the cosmetic product formulations. According to the industry experts, the global magnesium sulfate market is projected to dominate by the leading cosmetic industry leaders since they have invested a huge amount for the product innovation and research.

 The agriculture industry is the leading application segment for magnesium sulfate and is consistently developing a considerable demand in the global market due to growing awareness to produce good quality food. Therefore, fertilizer producers are becoming more cautious and adopting strategic alliances to reduce the gap between the demand and supply. Agriculture gains cover the vital part of the global GDP as well as holds a greater importance. Thus, the government initiatives among agriculture economies such as India, Brazil, the U.S., and others are creating opportunities to new entrants. With the aforementioned scenario, it can be said that the market is heading towards intensified global competition and is likely to create equivalent growth opportunity in the coming years for magnesium sulfate market.

From above market scenario, it can be concluded that industrial expansion has triggered the market competition and expected to uncover untapped markets across the globe. Consumption pattern of magnesium sulfate is directly proportional to aforementioned industrial growth and changes in industry structure expected to disturb the demand and supply chain.