01 Industry overview
The cmc industry at a glance
The global carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) market was valued at $1.87 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach $3.03 billion by 2035, supported by food, pharmaceutical, industrial and battery applications.
- $1.87B[64]
- Global market size, 2025
- 5.0%[64]
- Forecast CAGR, 2026–2035
- 40.1%[64]
- Asia-Pacific share, 2025
- 44.6%[64]
- Top-five players’ share, 2025
- Market size
- The global CMC market was valued at $1.87 billion in 2025, according to Global Market Insights. Other published estimates vary materially, including $1.73 billion for 2024 from Grand View Research, reflecting differences in scope, grades and market methodology.[64][65]
- Forecast & CAGR
- Global Market Insights forecasts growth from $1.87 billion in 2025 to $3.03 billion in 2035 at a 5.0% CAGR from 2026 to 2035. Grand View Research projects a 4.4% CAGR from 2025 to 2030, with the market reaching $2.23 billion by 2030.[64][65]
- Market share & regions
- Asia-Pacific was the largest regional market, accounting for 40.1% of global CMC revenue in 2025 according to Global Market Insights. Grand View Research estimated Asia-Pacific’s share at 40.7% in 2024, while Global Market Insights reported North American revenue of $468 million in 2025.[64][65]
- Segmentation
- CMC is sold across high-, medium- and low-purity grades and is used in food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care, oil and gas, paper and pulp, detergents, coatings and other industrial applications. Grand View Research identified medium-purity CMC, defined as 90%–99% purity, as the fastest-growing purity segment from 2025 to 2030, while oil and gas was its fastest-growing end-use segment at a projected 5.2% CAGR.[65][22]
- Key players & concentration
- Global Market Insights identified CP Kelco, Ashland, Nouryon, DKS and SINOCMC Group as the five leading suppliers, together holding 44.6% of the market in 2025. CP Kelco was reported as the largest supplier with more than 14.0% share.[64]
- Trends, drivers & challenges
- Demand is being supported by processed-food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing, specialty personal-care formulations, drilling fluids and emerging battery applications. Key constraints include volatility in cellulose and caustic-soda costs, competition from guar gum, xanthan gum and microcrystalline cellulose, and the higher compliance burden for food- and pharmaceutical-grade products.[65][22][66]
- Consumer behavior & competition
- Food and beverage remains the largest application, accounting for 35.52% of 2025 CMC revenue in Mordor Intelligence’s estimate. Competition is differentiated by purity, viscosity, regulatory documentation, supply reliability and application support, with demand increasingly linked to clean-label formulations, pharmaceutical excipients and battery binders.[22][64]
- Regulation
- In the United States, sodium carboxymethylcellulose is listed as generally recognized as safe when used in accordance with good manufacturing practice under 21 CFR 182.1745. In the European Union, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is regulated as food additive E 466; Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/666 amended its permitted uses and specifications, with key amendments applying from April 27, 2027.[67][68]
- Latest news
- On October 6, 2025, Ashland appointed Tilley Distribution as its exclusive U.S. distributor for food and beverage ingredients, including Aqualon carboxymethylcellulose. The move expands application and distribution support for Ashland’s CMC portfolio in regulated food, beverage and nutraceutical markets.[23]
Global carboxymethyl cellulose market revenue share by region
Asia Pacific holds the largest share at 39.4%.
02 Trends & forecasts
Top 10 Cmc Industry Trends & Forecasts 2027
What is changing in the cmc industry, with the evidence behind each trend and a forecast for 2027.
Forecasts were generated by an AI model from the cited evidence. They are estimates, not guarantees.
01Global growth stays moderate
High confidenceGlobal CMC revenue was estimated at $1.87 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach $3.03 billion by 2035, implying a 5.0% CAGR from 2026 to 2035. A separate estimate places the market at $1.73 billion in 2024 and $2.23 billion in 2030, a 4.4% CAGR from 2025 to 2030.[64][65]
Forecast 2027: The market should expand by roughly 5% in 2027, with growth remaining steady rather than accelerating sharply. Demand diversification will offset slower growth in mature industrial uses.
02Asia-Pacific remains the largest region
High confidenceAsia-Pacific accounted for 40.1% of global CMC revenue in 2025 in Global Market Insights' estimate. Grand View Research also identified the region as the largest market, with a 40.7% share in 2024.[64][65]
Forecast 2027: Asia-Pacific should retain approximately 40% of global revenue in 2027. China will remain the main production base, while India, Japan and South Korea should contribute disproportionately to pharmaceutical, specialty-grade and battery-related demand.
03Food remains the volume anchor
High confidenceFood and beverages represented 35.52% of global CMC revenue in 2025 in Mordor Intelligence's estimate. The segment uses CMC primarily as a thickener, stabilizer and texture modifier across processed foods and beverages.[22]
Forecast 2027: Food and beverage should remain the largest CMC application in 2027, with share broadly stable or slightly lower as pharmaceutical and battery grades grow faster. Clean-label positioning and formulation support will increasingly influence supplier selection.
04Pharmaceutical demand outpaces average growth
Medium confidencePharmaceuticals were forecast to grow at a 6.55% CAGR through 2031 in Mordor Intelligence's market assessment, above its reported overall market trajectory. CMC is used in pharmaceutical excipients, binders, disintegrants and controlled-release formulations.[22]
Forecast 2027: Pharmaceutical CMC demand should grow faster than the market average in 2027. Suppliers with pharmacopeial documentation, low-metal specifications and reliable batch-to-batch viscosity control should capture more value than commodity-grade producers.
05Battery-grade CMC gains share
Medium confidenceGlobal Market Insights identifies ultra-high-purity CMC as a procurement target for water-based anode binders in lithium-ion battery production. Recent research also demonstrates CMC-based aqueous binders for graphite, silicon-graphite and high-voltage cathode systems.[64][69][70]
Forecast 2027: Battery-grade CMC should grow faster than conventional food and industrial grades in 2027, but from a smaller base. Adoption will remain concentrated among cell makers that value aqueous processing, low fluorine content and lower solvent exposure.
06Sodium-ion research broadens demand
Low confidenceA 2024 study indexed by PubMed examined sodium carboxymethylcellulose as a binder for hard-carbon sodium-ion battery anodes. A 2025 review described CMC as a green binder enabling high initial coulombic efficiency and long-term cycle stability in sodium-ion systems.[71]
Forecast 2027: By 2027, sodium-ion battery development should create additional qualification opportunities for CMC, particularly in grid storage and low-cost mobility. Commercial volumes will likely remain smaller than lithium-ion demand because large-scale deployment is still developing.
07Oilfield demand remains cyclical
Medium confidenceGrand View Research identifies oil and gas as the fastest-growing CMC end-use segment in its 2025–2030 forecast, at a projected 5.2% CAGR. CMC is used in water-based drilling fluids for viscosity control and fluid-loss reduction.[65][72]
Forecast 2027: Oilfield CMC demand should grow modestly in 2027, supported by drilling-fluid consumption and complex well designs. Volatility in rig activity and energy capital expenditure will keep this segment more cyclical than food or pharmaceuticals.
08Medium-purity grades gain volume
Medium confidenceGrand View Research identifies medium-purity CMC, defined as 90%–99% purity, as the fastest-growing purity segment from 2025 to 2030, with a projected 4.8% CAGR. These grades serve cost-sensitive food and industrial applications that do not require the highest purity levels.[65]
Forecast 2027: Medium-purity grades should continue gaining volume in 2027 as processors balance performance with formulation cost. Competitive pressure will remain high because buyers can compare CMC with guar gum, xanthan gum and other hydrocolloids.
09High-purity specifications command premiums
Medium confidenceHighly purified grades accounted for 42.76% of the CMC market in 2025 in Mordor Intelligence's estimate and were forecast to grow at a 5.36% CAGR through 2031. Demand is linked to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and advanced battery applications requiring tighter impurity control.[22]
Forecast 2027: High-purity CMC should grow faster than low-value technical grades in 2027. Price premiums will depend increasingly on trace-metal limits, regulatory files, validated manufacturing controls and supply continuity.
10EU food compliance tightens
High confidenceCommission Regulation (EU) 2025/666 amended permitted uses and specifications for sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, or E466. Articles 1 and 2 apply from April 27, 2027, while transitional provisions cover certain products placed on the market earlier.[68]
Forecast 2027: The 2027 implementation date should increase demand for updated technical files, formulation reviews and inventory management in the European food market. Suppliers able to document compliant specifications should gain an advantage over less-documented imports.
03 Statistics
Technology & Innovation
Automation in the cmc industry
Digital Transformation in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 13% of clinical-research organizations surveyed reported a comprehensive AI-driven digital programme in 2024.[2]
- 35% of clinical-research organizations surveyed were piloting digital technologies in 2024, up from 29% in 2019.[2]
- 58.1% of global pharmaceutical-industry survey respondents were in the pilots or systematic-ongoing-actions stages of Pharma 4.0 adoption in 2023.[3]
- 45% of pharmaceutical companies surveyed were pursuing digitalization as an innovation or technology in 2024.[4]
- 15.1% of global pharmaceutical-industry survey respondents reported that Pharma 4.0 digital transformation had not started in 2023.[3]
Technology Adoption in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 59% of global biopharma respondents had adopted artificial intelligence or machine learning in 2023.[5]
- 37% of small biopharma respondents reported that more than 60% of their R&D laboratory instruments had automated data capture in 2024.[6]
- 55% of biopharma AI adopters reported using AI in process development in 2024.[7]
- 70% of global biopharma respondents had adopted an R&D data platform in 2023.[5]
- 63% of global biopharma respondents had adopted robotics and automation in 2023.[5]
Cloud Computing in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 77% of life-sciences commercial IT leaders reported investing primarily in cloud infrastructure in 2024.[8]
- 18% of global biopharma respondents had adopted cloud-based scientific software or SaaS in 2023.[5]
- 17% of large biopharma respondents had adopted cloud-based scientific software or SaaS in 2024.[7]
- 23% of small biopharma respondents had adopted cloud-based scientific software or SaaS in 2024.[7]
- 49% of biopharma survey respondents reported using cloud computing to facilitate day-to-day work in 2021.[9]
Big Data in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 48% of pharmaceutical companies surveyed were pursuing big data and analytics in 2024.[4]
- 68% of pharmaceutical companies surveyed planned to use advanced analytics in 2024.[10]
- 33% of biopharma survey respondents reported using data lakes in day-to-day operations in 2021.[9]
- 43% of small and midsize pharmaceutical companies surveyed were pursuing big data and analytics in 2024.[4]
- 55% of large pharmaceutical companies surveyed were pursuing big data and analytics in 2024.[4]
- 49% of clinical-research survey respondents reported using AI and big-data analytics in drug development in 2024.[2]
IoT in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 21.4% of IoT-using SMEs in the European healthcare industrial ecosystem applied IoT to predictive maintenance of production assets in 2023.[11]
- 25% of biopharma survey respondents reported using IoT daily in 2021.[9]
- 53% of global biopharma respondents reported that at least three of five laboratory instruments were connected to software in 2023.[5]
- 37% of biopharma organizations globally reported using IoT in a project or with a third party in Deloitte’s 2021 survey.[9]
- 20.4% of SMEs in the European healthcare industrial ecosystem had adopted Internet of Things technologies in 2023, according to an industry survey.[11]
- 9% of European pharmaceutical supply-chain organizations were already using IoT in 2024, while 23% planned to implement it, according to Miebach’s survey.[12]
Innovation in the cmc industry
- 4 major recognitions for innovation, growth and corporate leadership were recorded by CMC Packaging Automation in FY2024.[1]
04 Statistics
Data & Analytics
Business intelligence in the cmc industry
- 49% of manufacturing companies had data analytics and business intelligence operational at one or more locations in 2024.[13]
- 15% of manufacturing companies were piloting data analytics and business intelligence in 2024.[13]
- £3,931 million was LSEG’s 2024 revenue from Data & Analytics excluding recoveries.[14]
- 110.7 trillion cloud transactions per month were processed by Informatica at December 31, 2024.[15]
- 8% of manufacturing companies had identified data analytics and business intelligence as an initiative or had no plans for it in 2024.[13]
- £844 million was LSEG’s 2024 FTSE Russell revenue from subscription and asset-based products.[14]
Data analytics in the cmc industry
- Approximately 2,500 analytics experts worked at DRS in 2024.[16]
- More than 100 million data pulls were delivered by DRS in fiscal 2024, covering nearly 116 trillion data points.[16]
- 116 trillion data points were covered by DRS data pulls in fiscal 2024, up from 62 trillion in 2023.[16]
- 220 million unique product items were included in the DRS data catalog at December 31, 2024.[16]
- More than 1,300 data scientists worked at DRS in 2024.[16]
- More than 9 billion attributes described items in the DRS data catalog at December 31, 2024.[16]
Data Quality in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- Across 116 commercial biopharma leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 81% identified data quality as their top data issue for the next 12 months in 2025.[17]
- Across 500 pharmaceutical and biotechnology executives globally, 44% said their organization was prepared on data quality and completeness in 2025.[18]
- Across 125 senior U.S. life-sciences leaders, 81% said accuracy and confidence in data were critical components of AI success in biopharma in 2026.[17]
- Across 116 commercial biopharma leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 96% said their data was not well-structured or AI-ready for scaling in 2025.[17]
- Across 116 commercial biopharma leaders in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, 73% reported significant data quality issues in 2025.[17]
Data Governance in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- Across 200 global life-sciences R&D respondents, 46% called for templates for standardization and metadata to make data FAIR at scale in 2024.[19]
- Across 200 global life-sciences R&D respondents, 51% identified maintenance and management of data standards and ontologies as a key FAIR-data need in 2024.[19]
- Across 200 global life-sciences R&D respondents, 49% called for more data-governance frameworks to make data FAIR at scale in 2024.[19]
- Across 500 pharmaceutical and biotechnology executives globally, 54% said their organization was prepared on data governance in 2025.[18]
- Across 11 pharmaceutical regulatory organizations, 9% reported a comprehensive approach to onboarding standards such as IDMP and XEVMPD, with regular source qualification, connected systems and data cleaning in 2023.[20]
KPIs in the cmc industry
- 34% was Informatica’s year-over-year growth in cloud subscription annual recurring revenue at December 31, 2024.[15]
- 27% was Nasdaq’s year-end 2024 annual recurring revenue cloud mix for AxiomSL and Calypso combined.[21]
- 106% was DRS’s net dollar retention rate for Intelligence revenue in fiscal 2024.[16]
- 10% was Nasdaq’s year-over-year fourth-quarter 2024 growth in Solutions revenue.[21]
- 9% was Nasdaq’s adjusted year-over-year fourth-quarter 2024 Solutions revenue growth.[21]
- 84% of DRS Intelligence revenue came from multi-year or annual subscriptions in fiscal 2024.[16]
05 Statistics
Strategy & Growth
Growth in the cmc industry
- 35.52% was the estimated 2025 revenue share of food and beverage applications in the global carboxymethyl cellulose market.[22]
- Pharmaceutical applications in the carboxymethyl cellulose market were forecast to expand at a 6.55% CAGR through 2031.[22]
- Ashland’s 2024 sales totaled $2.113 billion across Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives and Intermediates.[23]
Differentiation in the cmc industry
Mergers and acquisitions in the cmc industry
Strategic partnerships in the cmc industry
- Two companies began trials in 2024 to integrate antimicrobial polymer technology into novel CMC fibers for wound dressings.[26]
- Biesterfeld expanded its long-standing partnership with Nouryon in 2024 to obtain Europe-wide distribution rights for the Cekol CMC range, excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland.[24]
06 Statistics
People & Workforce
Hiring in the cmc industry
- 13 new hires joined CMC Netherlands in FY2024, up 225% from 4 in FY2023.[1]
- 10 female employees were hired by CMC S.p.A. in Italy in FY2024, accounting for 28.6% of its new hires.[1]
- 160 new hires joined CMC Packaging Automation globally in FY2024, down 5.9% from 170 in FY2023.[1]
- 14 new hires joined CMC S.p.A. in Italy in FY2024, representing 8.8% of the group total.[1]
- 130 new hires joined CMC America in the United States in FY2024, representing 81.3% of the group total.[1]
Employee retention in the cmc industry
- 252 employees worked at CMC America in the United States and Canada at the end of FY2024, up 11.5% year over year.[1]
- Below 10% was CMC S.p.A.’s total employee turnover rate in FY2024, according to the company’s sustainability report.[1]
- 596 employees were employed across CMC Packaging Automation’s group at the end of FY2024, up 2.6% from 581 in FY2023.[1]
- 298 employees worked at CMC S.p.A. in Italy at the end of FY2024, down 5.7% year over year.[1]
Remote Work in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- Across U.S. chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers, 5.7% of positions were fully remote in the 2024 hiring outlook survey.[27]
- Among privately held life-sciences companies surveyed, 21.7% had some portion of their workforce fully remote in 2025.[28]
- Across U.S. life sciences companies, 65.9% reported implementing, expanding, or considering remote-work options for at least some employees in 2023.[29]
- Among life-sciences companies with remote-work options, 50.0% cited competition with technology and other industries as a reason for their policy in 2023.[29]
Hybrid Work in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- Among surveyed life-sciences employers in the BioHealth Capital Region, 60% expected at least a hybrid workforce after the pandemic in 2021.[30]
- Among life-sciences CEOs, 83% expected corporate employees whose roles were traditionally office-based to work in a hybrid environment three years after the 2024 survey.[31]
- Among surveyed life-sciences companies in the MassBio Human Resources Roundtable, 97% planned to implement hybrid work models for the long term in 2022.[32]
- Across U.S. chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers, 44.5% of positions were fully hybrid in the 2024 hiring outlook survey.[27]
Upskilling in the cmc industry
- 13,662 technical training hours were delivered by CMC S.p.A. in FY2024, down 7.7% from 2023.[1]
- 2,732.4 average technical training hours were recorded for CMC S.p.A. in FY2024 in the company’s training table.[1]
- 504.4 average ESG-related training hours were recorded for CMC S.p.A. in FY2024 in the company’s training table.[1]
- 30.2 average training hours per employee were delivered across CMC S.p.A. and CMC America in FY2024.[1]
- 2,522 ESG-related training hours were delivered by CMC S.p.A. in FY2024, down 6.5% from 2023.[1]
Employee Engagement in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- Across the Culture Amp pharmaceuticals benchmark, 17% of employees disagreed that they had seen positive changes based on recent employee survey results in July 2026.[33]
- Across the Culture Amp pharmaceuticals benchmark, 91% of employees agreed they understood how their work contributed to company goals in July 2026.[33]
- At Amneal Pharmaceuticals, global employee engagement reached 88% in the company’s 2024 reporting year.[34]
- Across the Culture Amp pharmaceuticals benchmark, 18% of employees were thinking of or actively seeking another job in July 2026.[33]
DEI in the cmc industry
- 7.4% of CMC Packaging Automation’s global workforce were women in FY2024.[1]
- 55.2% of CMC Packaging Automation’s total workforce were covered by collective labor agreements in FY2024.[1]
- 33.3% of CMC Netherlands employees were under 30 in FY2024.[1]
- 15.5% of CMC Packaging Automation’s workforce were under 30 in FY2024, up from 13.3% in 2023.[1]
07 Statistics
Customer & Sales
Customer experience in the cmc industry
- 64% of UK adults who used a claims management company in 2024 said they would not have felt confident enough to make the claim without one.[35]
- 13% of complaints about claims management companies were upheld by the Claims Management Ombudsman in 2024, down from 26% in 2023.[35]
- 76% of UK adults who used a claims management company in 2024 said they did so to reduce their effort during the claims process.[35]
Customer acquisition in the cmc industry
- 6.8% of new Financial Ombudsman Service cases were represented claims in late 2025 after charges for professional representatives were introduced.[35]
- 137 FCA-regulated claims management companies pursued financial claims in 2026, with activity concentrated among a minority of firms in the United Kingdom.[35]
- 47% of new Financial Ombudsman Service claims were brought by representatives in 2024, including claims management companies.[35]
Lead generation in the cmc industry
- Almost 90% of 30 claims management companies reviewed by the FCA for third-party lead generation were found non-compliant with lead-generation requirements.[35]
- 30 claims management companies were engaged by the FCA in a review of firms referring or obtaining leads from third parties.[35]
- 6 million complaints were made to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office about unwanted texts or emails associated with claims firms and related businesses.[35]
08 Statistics
Marketing & Brand
Marketing in the cmc industry
- More than 1,000 misleading car-finance claims advertisements had been removed or amended since January 2024.[35]
- Four claims management companies were prohibited from taking on new clients during FCA action over poor market practices in 2026.[35]
- 9,197 financial promotions involving authorised claims management companies were amended or withdrawn after FCA engagement in 2024.[35]
- 9,197 claims management company promotions represented 46% of the 19,766 total financial promotions amended or withdrawn after FCA intervention in 2024.[35]
Influencer Marketing in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 50% of physicians in Europe, APAC and North America said healthcare influencer or KOL content had changed their prescribing choices in 2024.[36]
- 44% of physicians in Europe, APAC and North America said healthcare influencer or KOL content had changed their perception of a medication in 2024.[36]
- 10% of healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers said they did not invest in creator or influencer marketing in 2026, globally.[37]
- 29% of healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers reported dedicated but flat budgets for creator or influencer marketing in 2026, globally.[37]
- 4.5% of high-engagement prescription-drug promotion posts across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube came from pharmaceutical companies in the United States in 2025.[38]
09 Statistics
Operations & Execution
Process optimization in the cmc industry
- 53rd percentile supplier productivity growth marked the threshold above which contract manufacturing was positively associated with focal-industry productivity in a study of 64 U.S. manufacturing industries, 2009–2018.[39]
- 15% of process-centric organizations used zero-loss thinking, according to a global process-industries study.[40]
Operational efficiency in the cmc industry
- 88% of process-centric organizations used performance-management systems.[40]
- 55% of process-centric plants used Total Quality Management as an improvement methodology.[40]
- 90% of process-centric organizations reported performance improvements during the two years preceding the survey.[40]
- 50% of process-centric plants used lean manufacturing, according to a global process-industries study.[40]
Quality management in the cmc industry
Supply chain in the cmc industry
- 8 respondents cited intellectual-property leaks as a major risk in consumer-products contract manufacturing relationships in South Africa.[41]
- 3 respondents cited failure to meet contract requirements as a major risk in consumer-products contract manufacturing.[41]
- 6 responses identified supply reliability as a critical success factor for contract manufacturing companies.[41]
- 14 responses identified cost performance as a critical success factor for contract manufacturing companies.[41]
Outsourcing / Offshoring in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 41% of surveyed pharmaceutical and biotech R&D leaders increased their use of functional-service-provider outsourcing versus two years earlier in 2023.[4]
- 40% of surveyed pharma and biotech CDMO decision-makers identified small-molecule API as the most outsourced product in July 2024.[42]
- 67% of global biotech and pharma companies outsourced pharmacovigilance operations in 2024, according to an IQVIA industry report.[43]
- 54% of global biotech and pharma companies outsourced regulatory activities in 2024, according to an IQVIA industry report.[43]
- 12% of total API volume used in the United States was produced domestically in 2024, with most supply coming from India and the European Union.[44]
10 Statistics
Finance & Pricing
Pricing strategy in the cmc industry
- More than 10.56% additional supplier profitability was achieved in certain modeled cases when contract manufacturers received pricing or production licensing alongside technology licensing.[45]
- 2023 research identified competitive pricing power versus OEMs as a defining issue for medical-device contract manufacturers.[46]
Cost reduction in the cmc industry
- $15.92 was the top-performer median supply-chain-management cost per $1,000 of revenue in APQC data, compared with $109.92 for bottom performers.[47]
- $109.92 was the bottom-performer median supply-chain-management cost per $1,000 of revenue in APQC data.[47]
- 49.00% supplier-profitability improvement was produced by technology licensing in certain low- or high-yield contract-manufacturing cases with limited yield fluctuation.[45]
- 61.76% manufacturer-profitability improvement was produced in the corresponding modeled contract-manufacturing cases.[45]
Profitability in the cmc industry
- 2.5% was the 2024 return on sales of 57 large public electronic-manufacturing-services contract manufacturers worldwide.[48]
- 7.5% was the 2024 gross margin of 57 large public electronic-manufacturing-services contract manufacturers worldwide.[48]
- 30% of process-centric organizations reported gross margins of 45% or higher.[40]
- $429.041 billion was the combined 2024 revenue of 57 large public electronic-manufacturing-services contract manufacturers worldwide.[48]
- 4.0% was the 2024 return on assets of 57 large public electronic-manufacturing-services contract manufacturers worldwide.[48]
Financial planning in the cmc industry
- $2.5 billion was the capital deployed by a major contract-manufacturing customer in a 2025 medical-device outsourcing report to expand manufacturing capabilities through acquisitions.[46]
- $1 trillion was the estimated annual revenue opportunity projected for the global contract-manufacturing sector in cited industry research.[49]
11 Statistics
Product & Service
Product development in the cmc industry
- 27% was the year-end 2024 cloud mix of annual recurring revenue for Nasdaq’s combined AxiomSL and Calypso businesses.[21]
- 60% of AxiomSL and Calypso combined new annual contract value came from cloud bookings at Nasdaq in the fourth quarter of 2024.[21]
- 52% of AxiomSL and Calypso combined new annual contract value came from cloud bookings at Nasdaq in 2024.[21]
- £5,267 million was LSEG’s 2023 revenue from Data & Analytics, including trading and banking, enterprise data, investment solutions and wealth solutions.[50]
- 116 new index products were launched with clients by Nasdaq in 2024, with more than half launched internationally.[21]
Product lifecycle in the cmc industry
- 81% of Thomson Reuters’ revenue was recurring in 2024, indicating a predominantly subscription-based product lifecycle.[16]
- 14,000 paid customers used Microsoft Fabric by fiscal 2024, supporting the platform’s early product-adoption lifecycle.[51]
- 49% of Similarweb’s annual recurring revenue came from multi-year contracts at December 31, 2024.[16]
- 91% was Thomson Reuters’ customer retention rate in 2024 across its information and software products.[16]
- 17 of Dun & Bradstreet’s 25 largest clients by revenue had relationships with the company for more than 20 years in 2024.[16]
Value proposition in the cmc industry
- Approximately 450,000 customers used Thomson Reuters products and services in 2024.[16]
- 8% to 11% was the expected five-year growth range for the markets served by Thomson Reuters’ Big 3 segments in 2024.[16]
- 42% of Similarweb’s fiscal 2025 revenue came from customers included in the Forbes Global 2000.[16]
- 30% of Dun & Bradstreet’s 2024 revenue came from international markets.[16]
- 91% was Thomson Reuters’ 2024 retention rate, supporting the value of its embedded information and workflow products.[16]
12 Statistics
Sustainability & Ethics
ESG in the cmc industry
Ethics in the cmc industry
- 24% was the increase in the number of CMC suppliers receiving a sustainability survey in 2025.[52]
- 450 significant U.S. suppliers were included in CMC’s responsible-supply-chain due-diligence program in 2025.[52]
- 6,100 companies comprised CMC’s global vendor base subject to responsible-supply-chain due diligence in 2025.[52]
- 100% of CMC employees completed the Code of Conduct in fiscal 2024.[52]
- 100% of CMC suppliers were required to review and acknowledge the Supplier Code of Conduct in 2025.[52]
CSR in the cmc industry
- 11 CMC sites had recorded no recordable injury for more than 10 years by 2025.[52]
- 12,690 people were employed by CMC across its reportable segments and corporate functions on August 31, 2025.[16]
- 28% of Europe Steel Group employees belonged to unions at CMC on August 31, 2025.[16]
- 0.98 was CMC’s total recordable incident rate in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 4% of Emerging Businesses Group employees belonged to unions at CMC on August 31, 2025.[16]
Circular economy in the cmc industry
- 2% of CMC’s steelmaking input was virgin material, compared with 69% for the global steel industry, in 2025.[53]
- 1,072,531 metric tons of waste and co-products were generated by CMC in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 100% of steel used in CMC products was recycled steel in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 98% of recycled input materials were used in CMC products in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 99% of electric-arc-furnace baghouse dust was captured and recycled by CMC in 2025.[52]
Carbon footprint in the cmc industry
- 0.77 metric tons of CO2-equivalent per metric ton of steel was CMC’s total Scope 1–3 emissions intensity in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 1,251,864 metric tons of Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions were reported by CMC in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 136 metric tons of methane were emitted by CMC in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 1,913,454 metric tons of Scope 3 greenhouse-gas emissions were reported by CMC in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 4,311,500 metric tons of CO2-equivalent Scope 1–3 emissions were reported by CMC in fiscal 2025.[52]
13 Statistics
Risk, Compliance & Legal
Compliance in the cmc industry
- 6,100 companies were included in CMC’s vendor-base risk assessment and due-diligence program in 2025.[52]
- 100% of CMC suppliers were required to acknowledge the Supplier Code of Conduct in 2025.[52]
- 450 significant U.S. suppliers were covered by CMC’s responsible-supply-chain due diligence in 2025.[52]
- 24% was the increase in suppliers receiving CMC’s sustainability survey in 2025.[52]
- 7.25% of CMC’s Scope 1 carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions were covered by emissions-limiting regulations in fiscal 2025.[52]
Risk Management in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 85% of global life science firms had a formal business continuity process covering the whole business in 2024.[54]
- 44% of global life science firms reported no standardized or consistently effective intellectual-property risk-management process in 2024.[54]
- 90% of clinical trials managed by surveyed CROs included at least one risk-based monitoring or risk-based quality-management component in 2025.[55]
- 52% of middle-market life sciences companies reported having a business continuity plan in place.[56]
- 81% of middle-market life sciences companies said risk management was a top priority, rising to 90% among the fastest-growing organizations.[56]
Cybersecurity in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 52% of surveyed middle-market life sciences companies reported experiencing a cybersecurity breach.[56]
- 27% of healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical respondents had little or no confidence in identifying where their data was stored in 2025.[57]
- 98% of surveyed pharmaceutical firms experienced at least one cybersecurity intrusion in the 12 months covered by Fortinet’s 2021 survey.[58]
- 40% of surveyed pharmaceutical businesses experienced outages affecting productivity, safety, compliance, revenue, or brand image.[58]
- 28% of surveyed pharmaceutical businesses lost business-critical data or intellectual property because of cybersecurity incidents.[58]
Data Privacy in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 84% of surveyed pharmaceuticals and life sciences organizations said measuring and managing sensitive-content compliance required some to significant improvement in 2024.[59]
- 61% of surveyed pharmaceuticals and life sciences organizations identified GDPR as a top-two privacy and compliance focus in 2024.[59]
- Stricter privacy regulation was associated with an approximately 39% reduction in R&D spending by global pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms four years after implementation.[60]
- 39% of surveyed pharmaceuticals and life sciences organizations said they tagged and classified around three-quarters of their unstructured data in 2024.[59]
- 66% of pharma, biotech, and medical-device respondents said patient privacy presented a challenge when complying with journal data-sharing policies in 2024.[61]
Crisis Management in the pharmaceuticals and biotech sector (sector benchmark)
- 40% of surveyed pharmaceutical firms maintained inventory buffers of one to three months to protect against supply-chain disruption.[62]
- 61% of surveyed global life science firms identified panic buying and stockpiling as a major supply-chain risk for the following two years.[54]
- 48% of surveyed global life science firms identified natural disasters as a major supply-chain risk for the following two years.[54]
- 52% of surveyed global life science firms identified contract-manufacturing issues as a major supply-chain risk for the following two years.[54]
- 50% of surveyed global life science firms identified logistics and warehousing shortages as a major supply-chain risk for the following two years.[54]
Governance in the cmc industry
- $108,050 was CMC’s employee-sponsored political-action-committee contribution in fiscal 2025.[52]
- $1,438,395 was CMC’s trade-association expenditure in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 9 of CMC’s 10 directors were independent in fiscal 2025.[52]
- 3 governance levels oversaw CMC’s sustainability program in 2025: the Board, Executive Leadership Team and Sustainability Leadership Council.[52]
- 90% was CMC’s board-independence rate in fiscal 2025.[52]
14 Statistics
Globalization & Expansion
Globalization in the cmc industry
- 69% of Ashland’s sales were generated outside North America in fiscal 2024, reflecting the international reach of a major CMC supplier.[16]
- Ashland reported $269 million in 2024 Life Sciences sales from Europe, its largest geographic region for that segment.[23]
- CMC was the major cellulose ether consumed worldwide in 2025, with Eastern Asia identified as the largest regional consumption area.[63]
Supplier management in the cmc industry
Distribution channels in the cmc industry
- Europe-wide distribution rights for Nouryon’s Cekol CMC product range were granted to Biesterfeld in 2024, excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland.[24]
- Biesterfeld generated €1.38 billion in group revenue in fiscal 2023 while distributing specialty chemicals, including CMC, across multiple international markets.[24]
Cite This Report
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Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 11). Cmc Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cmc-industry-statistics
Samuel Norberg. "Cmc Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 11 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/cmc-industry-statistics.
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Cmc Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cmc-industry-statistics.
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