Chemical companies are looking for opportunities to acquire nanotechnology companies The latest research report from Rukes Market Research Company in the United States stated that the large-scale production of nano-products has saturated the global market supply, leading to a general decline in prices, and the economic benefits of many nano-product manufacturing companies have been affected. At present, the nanotechnology industry has shown signs of shrinking business, and some new projects have gradually withdrawn from the market or stopped work. With the simultaneous growth of demand and price decline, the global nano-materials industry is facing a reshuffle.
The report said that the sales revenue of the global nanomaterials market this year will increase by 94% from 2006, and the growth rate in 2008 will slow to 70%. It is expected that the market size will increase to 4 billion U.S. dollars by 2011. Rux Research believes that the gradual improvement of the production process will reduce the production cost of nanomaterials and open up new applications. The company’s senior analysts believe that the continuous expansion of fuel catalysts to sports products has contributed to the growth of the nanomaterials market. The increasing market demand has forced manufacturers to expand their production scale to cope with the impact of falling product prices.
At present, the competitive landscape of the nanomaterials market is relatively clear. In the next two years, companies that are not capable of producing mass-reliable nanomaterials on a large scale will find it difficult to raise the required development funds from investors. This will trigger a new round of business acquisitions in the nanomaterials market. Those rising stars who have strong financial support will seek all possible business acquisition opportunities to achieve diversified development and provide niche products that meet specific application areas.
It is reported that the large nanomaterial market includes: carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, metal nanoparticles, ceramic nanoparticles and quantum dots. Since last year, the global carbon nanotube market has undergone tremendous changes. As production capacity and product stability have been greatly improved, prices have fallen by 33%. Many chemical companies produced large amounts of high value-added carbon nanotubes and sold them out.
Many chemical companies plan to invest in nanotechnology and consider it a promising project, but only a few companies have put their ideas into action. Some chemical companies are waiting for opportunities to acquire Nanotech materials when they fall. Kobert is a model in this area. BASF also conducted a number of cooperation projects with universities and industrial partners, and turned its strategic investment to a number of new nanomaterial companies, especially in the field of nano-oxidation.
The research report believes that non-industrial venture capital companies invested 120 million U.S. dollars in nanotechnology in 2006, a 75% drop from 2005. In the period from 1995 to 2000, non-industrial venture capital companies invested US$1 billion in the development of nanotechnology and production of nanomaterials.
The Defengjie Global Venture Capital Fund is a top risk investment company and has invested in several nanotechnology companies. Jennifer Fonstad, the company’s fund manager, said that the company is still optimistic about the nanotechnology market and will continue to invest in nanomaterials technologies with potential for growth, especially nanomaterials technologies for clean energy applications.