Bright outlook for sun care ingredients

11 April 2005 00:01  [Source: ICB Americas]

Sales heat up as increased consumer awareness of UV protection spreads use of sun care ingredients?in cosmetics and personal care. Doris de Guzman reports.

Ingredient manufacturers for the sun care market are enjoying steady growth and strong demand. As consumers become more aware of the need for everyday protection against ultraviolet (UV) rays, sun protection ingredient makers are expanding their base to include multifunctional cosmetics and skin care products such as face creams, cleansers and lotions, as well as children’s and baby care products.

“We’ve seen strong growth in the sun care ingredients market, and demand is steadily increasing as UV protection enters more personal care segments,” says Bernd Burk-hart, cosmetic solutions business director for BASF North America. “Consumers are now more aware of damage caused to the skin by the sun, and manufacturers are now adding suns protection to skin care, hair and cosmetic products.”

BASF estimates the North American sun care ingredients market at $50 million to $100 million. “This grew about 3 percent from 2003 to 2004,” adds Burkhart.

US consumption of active ingredients in sun care products in 2002 was estimated by Impact Marketing Consultants Inc. at 15 million pounds, valued at $75 million. The Vermont-based consultancy says cinnamates, benzophenones and octocrylenes hold 65 percent of US consumption.

For 2004, Kline & Company Inc. estimatesglobal consumption of UV absorbers at between $250 million and $350 million. Europe remains the largest consumer at 40 percent followed by the US with 30 percent.

“By product type, organic UV absorbers such as octylmethoxycinnamate, avobenzone, and octocrylene account for 75 percent of consumption while inorganics, in-cluding microfine titanium oxide and zinc oxide, account for the balance,” says Gillian Morris, industry manager for Kline’s chemical practice.

BASF, DSM, Symrise and International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP), are the leading suppliers of UV absorbers to personal care on a global basis. BASF and Symrise, on the other hand, market the broadest range of UV absorbers worldwide.

Kline pegs growth for UV absorbers at 3 to 4 percent in mature markets such as the US, Japan and Europe. “China continues to offer the highest growth of all global regions, currently pegged at between 10 and 20 percent depending on the UV absorbers,” adds Morris.

Suppliers and analysts alike note the growing importance of Asia-Pacific in the sun care ingredients market, especially for UV absorbing actives. “More ingredient suppliers are coming from Asia Pacific and the competitive landscape for ingredient supply is changing,” says Patrick Bowers, global marketing director, skin care, at ISP.

Trends and innovations

Increased competition within the sun care ingredients as well as in the retail sector has pushed innovation to the forefront. Despite regulatory obstacles in introducing new ingredients to the market, manufacturers note the growing research and development for new sun care actives and filters, mostly driven by consumers’ increasing interests in daily-wear products with UV protection.

Symrise says it is especially giving high priority to the development of next-generation UV absorbers in its continuing search for innovative cosmetic ingredients. UV absorbers currently account for around 80 percent of Symrise’s cosmetic ingredients unit’s business.

Ciba Specialty Chemicals is currently trying to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval of its new broad-spectrum UV filters, Tinosorb M and Tinosorb S. Both are already marketed in Europe, South America and Asia Pacific, and the company expects to obtain FDA registration by the end of 2006. Tinosorb M, said to be the first organic microfine particle UV filter for cosmetics, was just introduced in Japan last November.

“Ciba is working on new advances in UV protection particularly in the areas of new UV filters that are even more efficient. The Tinosorb M and Tinosorb S are strong platforms on which we are building further product expansions,” notes Uli Osterwalder,marketing manager, UV protection and actives at Ciba.

For BASF, the search is on for more synergistic UV absorbers offering more stability and longer-lasting, broad-spectrum protection range. Last month, BASF started collaborating with Sakai Chemical Industry Company to produce and market its new microfine titanium dioxide grades. The company also joined Shiseido in November to develop new UV protection materials for use in cosmetic sun protection products.

“BASF constantly sees the need for innovation in the market. Our Uvinul A Plus was just approved in Europe this February in response to the market need for a stable UVA absorber,” says BASF’s Burkhart. “We are currently pursuing the FDA’s approval to introduce Uvinul T150 to the US market in order to provide a stronger UVB absorber than the ones [that] currently exist.”

Producers are also on the lookout forinnovative ingredients that provide in-creased efficacy, convenience, skin-feel and functionality to sun care products. ISP says it is looking at new spectroscopic imaging techniques to help develop more effective formulations such as uniform, water-resistant sunscreen products.

Degussa is working on the use of cationic emulsions in sun care to improve the skin-feel of high oil/active formulas. “As sun care is a regulated product category, there is not much that can be easily innovated in terms of actives, but in terms of adjuvants and delivery systems, there are continual changes in attempts to improve consumer satisfaction,” says Janet Kosiek, marketing manager, personal and home care at Degussa.

For National Starch, convenience is the most important trend in sun care over the next several years. “We are looking at ways to expand the possibilities for sun care with product formulations designed for the morning personal care regimen,” says Maria Tolchinsky, sun care marketing manager at National Starch Personal Care.

“A series of National Starch technologies are now being tested in the laboratory that may one day give rise to a whole new category of sun care protection products. These products may help boost consumer acceptance of sun care to the point of routine as opposed to occasional use,” Tolchinsky adds.

The incoming amendment to the FDA’s final monograph regarding over-the-counter sunscreen products could also present new sun care formulating opportunities, says Julian Hewitt, sun care team leader for Uniqema. Currently, formulators are said to be limited in how they use sunscreens.

“New rules may allow US formulators to develop new combinations of inorganic and organic sunscreens,” notes Hewitt. “With the new monograph, hopefully, a true road map will be available for the creation of new sunscreen formulations aimed at broad-spectrum protection.”

Sales on the rise

Prompted by the availability of formulations with innovative ingredients, the consumption of sun care products is on the rise. Sun block, sunscreen, suntan lotions and oils, and other products enjoyed strong sales last year, especially those with higher SPFs.

Sun care dollar sales increased 1.3 percent to $421 million in 2004, according to marketdata provider AC Nielsen. Volumes were up 2.2 percent from 2003, owing in part to a decrease of 0.8 percent in category pricing.

Information Resources Inc. (IRI) placed last year’s sales of suntan lotion and oil at $415 million, an increase of 2.3 percent from the year-ago period. Sales for the combined sunscreen and insect-repellent product jumped 9.2 percent to $3.8 million. In the suntan category, Banana Boat, Coppertone and private labels were the top three sellers. Coppertone Bug & Sun, Off Skintastic, and Sun & Bug Stuff were the top three brands in the sunscreen/insect repellent category.

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