Corn:
Corn is more than a picnic side dish. It is a versatile raw material that is used as a building block in many materials, specifically life science media components and citric acid.  Approximately 50% of the global corn supply is grown in the US, with a majority of that is grow in the Midwest. 

Market Dynamics:
Globally, corn is primarily used as feed for animals. As developing countries flourish, demand for meat increases creating demand for corn and price increases for media and citric acid. In addition, natural disasters in the US Midwest, particularly between July and September, can destroy crops and cause corn shortages and media/citric acid prices to increase. Further, corn uses about 50% of the fertilizers produced in the US; floods in the Midwest between May and June can cause increased demand for fertilizers and thus fluctuations in the potassium and phosphate salts market as well with potassium hydroxide, phosphoric acid and nitrogen materials.

Up Stream Materials/Building Blocks:

Fertilizers

• Nitrogen: Urea, Nitrates, Nitrites
• Potassium
• Phosphate

Down Stream Materials Consuming Corn:

​Amino acids (fermented from corn)

• Alanine
• Arginine
• Glutamic Acid
• Glutamine
• Histidine
• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Phenylalanine
• Proline
• Serine
• Tryptophan
• Tyrosine
• Valine

Citric acid and its derivatives (fermented from corn)
Carbohydrates and their derivatives

• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Lactose
• Trehalose

Ethanol and SDA/CDA alcohol blends
Gluconates