The export market for cassava is highly competitive and in many cases relies on the development of innovative products. Because cassava starches are intermediate products, they need to meet the needs of the final product. Therefore it is quite difficult to develop and expand the cassava starch markets without a good understanding of how the starch is going to be used. Much of the industry depends on cooperation between starch producers and starch users.
As shown in Table 48 and Table 49, the number of countries importing cassava starch is quite diverse but concentrated with only four countries (China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan) accounting for 82 percent of world imports in 1995. The exciting discovery is that the import demand for cassava starch increased substantially after 1980, with the development of modified starches.
Exporters of cassava starch are more concentrated than the importer destinations, with three countries (Thailand, Indonesia and Brazil) accounting for 95 percent of world exports. Thailand, in fact, accounts for 85 percent of exported cassava starch. Interestingly, the import demand for cassava starch increased substantially after 1980, with the development of modified starches, and has continued to grow, also in 1995
