February 08, 2016
Wellesley, Mass., February 08, 2016 – The global market for genetically modified (GM) foods is rapidly expanding, despite the controversies over their safety.BCC Research reveals in its new report that adoption of GM crops has broadened internationally, and manufacturers are incorporating GM ingredients into processed foods more frequently.
Food consumption directly relates to population growth rates, climate and market conditions that affect production yields. Additionally, urbanization and an expanding middle class in developing countries could lead to greater consumption of packaged foods. These factors should sustain the 2.4% CAGR projected over the next five years. At that rate, the 107.99 million tons of GM field and specialty crops produced globally for food processing or direct use in 2015 is forecast to reach 121.6 million tons in 2020.
In general, specialty crops are a more high-value agricultural segment than field crops and offer farmers a greater return on investment. Commercial growers set their own pricing policies and have adopted viable strategies to market their crops to consumers. The market should increase from a $436 million production value of GM specialty crops in 2015 to $781 million in 2020.
GM field crop growers tend to contract with processors for designated production quantities at set prices. Government pricing policies may also govern farm-level selling prices and, in times of downturns, allow farmers to sell at market prices rather than at the set prices. Consumption patterns and acreage adjustments should balance stocks-to-use ratios, spurring recovery of prices to historical levels and the production value of GM crops from $17.5 billion in 2015 to $22.2 billion in 2020.
The commercial value of GM field crops is in their yield, or productivity. Record yields and subsidized dumps have flooded the market with excess supplies and driven down farm-level prices. Corn, cottonseed and sugar beet growers have been hit particularly hard. To compensate, growers have adjusted acreage downward, and some have switched to more profitable crops.
“Corn farmers, for example, have converted some of their acreage to soybeans, while cottonseed farmers have planted more grains,” explains BCC Research analyst Norma Corbitt. “Cheap sugarcane has driven down refined sugar prices worldwide. Acreage adjustments andU.S.statutes that require a fixed portion of the sugar allotment quantity to be assigned to sugar beets and sugarcane should help GM sugar beet growers weather the market conditions.”)
Genetically Modified Foods: Technologies and Global Markets (FOD022A) examines market size, plantings and yields, seed prices, and trends and developments for field and specialty crops. Analyses of global market drivers and trends, with data from 2014 and 2015, and projections of five-year CAGRs through 2020 are provided.
Editors and reporters who wish to speak with the analyst should contact Steven Cumming at steven.cumming@bccresearch.com.
Genetically Modified Foods: Technologies and Global Markets( FOD022A )
Publish Date: Feb 2016
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