Industrial enzymes: Cycles

Steady growth, with dips when energy costs spike

What this tab covers How its prices and margins move: past booms and busts with price levels, the spread or margin that the industry watches, the drivers of the cycle and the metrics to track.

Enzymes are not a price-cyclical commodity. Prices are set by contract and value in use, and are not public. The cycle shows up in volumes and margins: US ethanol output and the farm economy drive bioenergy sales; detergent reformulation drives household care; livestock disease drives feed. Leaders have kept steady mid-single-digit organic growth and high margins, with dips when energy and raw material costs spike, as in 2022 (indicative). Novonesis grew 7% organically in 2025 and guided 5-7% for 2026.

The spread to watch No product spread; leaders' gross and EBITDA margins

Novonesis adjusted gross margin 59.1% and adjusted EBITDA margin 37.1% in 2025 (Novonesis Annual Report 2025).

Booms and busts

2008-2009
Financial crisis and US ethanol plant bankruptcies hit bioenergy enzyme sales (indicative).
not public; company sales growth slowed (indicative)
2022
Energy, sugar and logistics cost inflation squeezed margins; producers raised prices (indicative).
not public
2024-2026
Novozymes and Chr. Hansen merged into Novonesis; 2025 organic growth 7%, Q4 4%; Food & Health 8%, Planetary Health 6%.
adjusted EBITDA margin 37.1% (2025), guided 37-38% for 2026 (Novonesis)

What drives the cycle

Ethanol output. Grain ethanol in the US, Brazil and India uses amylases and glucoamylases.
Detergent reformulation. Cold-wash and compaction trends raise enzyme dosing.
Livestock output and phosphate prices. Dear phosphate makes phytase more valuable.
Biotech advances. New strains and enzymes create new uses and protect margins.

Metrics to track

Metric	Why it matters	Where to track it
Novonesis organic sales growth by segment	Best public read of the industry	Novonesis quarterly reports
US ethanol production	Bioenergy enzyme volumes	US EIA
Advanced Enzyme Technologies results	Indian market read	BSE/NSE filings