Traditional Wound Management Market Analysis

Traditional wound management products are the basic products intended for management of non-severe and acute wounds. These products are generally used to absorb exudate, seize bleeding, close the open trauma and surgical wounds and dry the wound to help it heal faster.

The global traditional wound management market is estimated to account for US$ 5,926.0 Mn in terms of value by the end of 2027.

Global Traditional Wound Management Market: Drivers

Increasing prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers is expected to propel growth of the global traditional wound management market over the forecast period. For instance, in June 2018, the prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers was 51.8% in a community based study conducted by Kasturba Medical College, India.

Moreover, increasing geriatric population is also expected to boost growth of the market, For instance, according to the World Health Organization, geriatric population is expected to reach 2 billion by 2050, up from 900 million in 2015.

North America region held dominant position in the global traditional wound management market in 2019, accounting for 30.4% share in terms of value, followed by Europe.

Figure 1. Global Traditional Wound Management Market Value (US$ Mn), by Region, 2019

Global Traditional Wound Management Market: Restraints

Increasing development and adoption of advanced wound care products is expected to hinder growth of the market. For instance, in December 2019, researchers from ETH Zurich and the National University of Singapore reported development of superhydrophobic hemostatic nanofiber composites for fast clotting and minimal adhesion.

Moreover, traditional wound management is a low-margin business. Most of the raw materials are exported from developing markets to markets strong in manufacturing and sale of finished products. Such trading happens at subsistence levels as these markets are mostly unorganized in nature. Lack of attractive margins steals prominence and the focus is gradually shifting from traditional products to advanced wound care management products. This in turn is expected to hinder growth of the market.

Global Traditional Wound Management Market: Opportunities

Market players require to focus on better relationship with surgeon stakeholders in order to increase penetration of traditional wound management products in hospitals. Marketplace discussions indicate that surgeons play a key role in selection of wound dressing material. Offering this stakeholder group a plethora of product choice is expected to lead to higher probability of order generation.

Moreover, improving regulatory scenarios in developing countries is also expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for players in the market. Improvement and streamlining of regulatory processes in developing countries is expected to boost formalization of practice standards, development of better clinical treatment guidelines, standardize product usage, and shorten registration & licensing periods for traditional wound management products. 

Gauzes segment in the global traditional wound management market was valued at US$ 1,820.3 Mn in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 2,381.9 Mn by 2029 at a CAGR of 3.4% during the forecast period.

Market Trends/Key Takeaways

The market is witnessing increasing demand for non-woven gauzes in wound care and wound management, owing to their virtually non-adherent and faster wicking ability. Such superior attributes of woven gauzes are ideal for wound dressings, wound packing, and general wound care.

Reimbursement service providers are more focused on providing reliable and cost effective wound management solution to patients. This in turn has led to adoption of both traditional and advanced wound care products.

Value Chain Analysis - Optional

• Price obtained by farmers and cotton and margin obtained by seed cotton suppliers
  • Cotton farmers holds little power to negotiate the prices of cotton as they hold negligible power in complex chain of cotton trade internationally. As raw cotton is supplied by farmers at below subsistence levels (mostly as bonded laborers), there is no margin gained by farmers – the phenomenon is more common in developing countries. The cotton collected by guilds is supplied to middlemen such as national cotton ginners association at ex-collection prices mostly. However, in developed economies cost plus a 2-3% mark-up is associated to match operating costs
  • As per the information obtained by CMI’s key opinion leaders, the cost of cotton production ranges from US$ 0.3 to US$ 0.4 per Kg of seed cotton. The cost of cotton production includes cost for land preparation (~14-15% of total cost of production), seed &sowing (~15-16%), manures and manuring (~10-12%), weeding (~20-23%), plant protection (~14-16%), and harvesting (~14-15%)
  • The price obtained by the cotton collectors and suppliers or cotton producer organizations such as Pratima Organic Growers India, ranges from US$ 0.31 to US$ 0.42 for 1kg of seed cotton, which explains the 2-3% margin obtained by the cotton producing organizations
  • Ginned cotton to fiber manufacturers: Margin obtained by cotton ginners
  • The margin obtained by national cotton ginners association i.e. 20-25%. This margin is collected as a measure to equalize domestic and international trade prices of cotton and not as a means for covering up operating costs. It is the difference between sales price of ginned cotton and the calculated unginned cotton price. This margins is expected to provide an implicit subsidy to ginners and is more often treated as aid
  • Ginners purchase unginned cotton from farmers and separate the lint and seeds. Cost of ginning includes the cost for bagging and transportation from field to nearest ginning mill (~20% of total cost of ginning), repair and maintenance (~24-25%), electrical cost (~18-20%), dryer fuel (~5-7%), labor cost (~30-32%) etc.
  • According to USDA’s survey on cotton ginning economics, the profit margin obtained by the ginners was found to be 20-25% of the international selling price of unginned cotton
  • However the margins obtained by cotton ginners are narrowing down due to falling cotton prices and costly finance from lenders owing to increased tax rates
• Margin to private ginners
  • The margin obtained by private ginners is as low as 10% due to low return on capital invested and seasonal nature of labor employed
  • This is collected as aid are often reverse distributed as loans to small farmers
• Fiber manufacturer to fabric manufacturer
  • Manufacturers of cotton fiber are benefited from increasing demand from the international markets. However, it faces intense competition from man-made fibers such as polyester and viscose
  • In 2015, Indian cotton yarn industry produced over 6,600 Mn Kg of spun yarn, which generated a revenue of around US$ 1.94 Mn. However, the cotton yarn industry faces the biggest restraint of price volatility as price stability of cotton yarn depends on price of raw cotton and demand in the fabric market
  • As per interviews conducted by CMI, average profit margin for top 10 Indian spinners were obtained as 12-15%
  • This profit margin for fiber manufacturers is influenced by three parameters Viz. cost of raw material, conversion cost and yarn selling price. Cost of conversion includes cost for electricity, wages and salaries to workers, storage and packing cost etc.
  • In India, the conversion cost of 1Kg of fiber is US$ 0.04 –US$ 0.05 and the average conversion cost is increasing over the years. However, profit margin can be increased by controlling the conversion cost
• Fabric to finished products
  • 15% margins obtained by fabric manufacturers are dependent on negotiation power, brand value of buyer company, global position of the company in the market. Also efficiency of final production, automation and capacity utilization are important factors impacting profit margin
  • In the downstream, the main costs are Sales and Distribution, advertising, logistics & inventory management and advertising. The more efficient the attributes the higher will be the bargaining power and greater will be the margins

Note: The marginal impact of fluctuation in raw seed cotton prices is less than 1% on the final retail price of manufactured goods as significant part of costs can be attributed to manufacturing and processing of the raw material into finished product. This factor directly impacts the magnitude of margins in both upstream and downstream activities 

Global Traditional Wound Management Market: Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in the global traditional wound management market include, Smith & Nephew plc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd., Medtronic Plc., Cardinal Health, Derma Sciences Inc., Paul Hartman AG, Molnlycke Health Care, Medline Industries, Inc., DUKAL Corporation, and BSN Medical.

Global Traditional Wound Management Market: Key Developments  

Major players in the market are also focused on adopting collaboration and partnership strategies to expand their product portfolio. For instance, in January 2018, Mölnlycke partnered with Tissue Analytics, a developer of sophisticated digital wound imaging platforms.