Thai Tapioca Flour and Modified Starch: Thai Wah, SWI, and the World's #1 Cassava-Starch Export

Questions this report answers

How big is Thai cassava in 2025? Thailand remains the world's #1 cassava-product exporter, holding ~25%🔒 of global cassava-product export volume in 2024. In 2023 Thailand exported 8.58M🔒 tonnes of cassava products and derivatives, accounting for ~80-82%🔒 of native-starch exports globally, ~57-60%🔒 of cassava-chip exports, and ~30-32%🔒 of modified-starch exports. The global tapioca-starch market is sized at USD 4.27B🔒 in 2025 and projected to reach USD 7.30B🔒 by 2034 at ~6.2%🔒 CAGR (Industry Research). Thai cassava-starch FOB Bangkok runs USD 415-450🔒/tonne in 2025.^{[3, 7]}

Who runs Thai cassava? Tier-1: Thai Wah Public Company (TWPC, SET-listed) holds ~17%🔒 of global tapioca-starch share, operates 11 plants across Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, with annual output 1.8M+🔒 tonnes; the 2025 new Vietnam plant added ~15%🔒 capacity. Tier-2: Sanguan Wongse Industries (SWI; Nakhon Ratchasima base), Asia Modified Starch, Vedan Thailand (Vedan Taiwan-affiliated MSG, tapioca operator). Modified-starch capacity is concentrated in TWPC, Asia Modified Starch, and select SWI lines.^{[1, 8, 9, 2]}

What's the product mix and buyer mix? Product mix: native-starch ~50%🔒 volume, modified-starch ~30%🔒 (chemically, physically modified for industrial-food, paper, textile, adhesive applications), tapioca-flour ~10%🔒 retail-cooking, tapioca-pearl ~10%🔒 bubble-tea globally. Buyer mix: China ~64%🔒 of cassava-product volume and ~51.4%🔒 of tapioca-starch buyer share; Japan, Indonesia, EU, US tier-2 buyers; US bubble-tea sub-segment continues to expand.^{[5, 4]}

What are the watchpoints for 2025-2027? Per Krungsri Industry Outlook 2025-2027: China feed-corn substitution cycle (low China demand has eroded Thai cassava-chip pricing), EV-mandate softness (Q2 ethanol tender is the leading indicator), EU CSDDD compliance for European buyers, alt-starch (potato, corn, wheat) competition, super-premium tapioca-pearl bubble-tea trend.^{[7, 4]}

Executive summary

Thailand remains the world's #1 cassava-product exporter at ~25%🔒 of global export volume in 2024; 8.58M🔒 tonnes exported in 2023, including ~80-82%🔒 of global native-starch exports. The global tapioca-starch market sits at USD 4.27B🔒 in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 7.30B🔒 by 2034 at ~6.2%🔒 CAGR (Industry Research). Thai Wah Public Company (TWPC, SET-listed) anchors the industry with ~17%🔒 global tapioca-starch share, 11 plants in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and annual output 1.8M+🔒 tonnes; the 2025 new Vietnam plant added ~15%🔒 capacity.^{[3, 1, 8]}

Product mix: native-starch ~50%🔒 volume, modified-starch ~30%🔒, tapioca-flour ~10%🔒, tapioca-pearl ~10%🔒. Buyer mix: China ~64%🔒 of cassava-product volume and ~51.4%🔒 of tapioca-starch buyer share; Japan, Indonesia, EU, US tier-2 buyers; US bubble-tea segment growing. Sanguan Wongse Industries (SWI), Asia Modified Starch, Vedan Thailand tier-1, tier-2 processors.^{[5, 2]}

Pricing pressure visible: Thai cassava-starch FOB Bangkok USD 415-450🔒/tonne in 2025; cassava-root price hit five-year low THB 2,230🔒/tonne January 2025 amid weak China feed-corn substitution and soft EV-ethanol mandate (per Krungsri 2025-2027 Outlook, czapp.com EV-mandate, low Chinese demand analysis). Watchpoints: China feed-corn substitution cycle, EV-mandate Q2 ethanol tender direction, EU CSDDD compliance, alt-starch competition.^{[7, 6, 4]}

Thai cassava-product export trend (USD billion, 2021-2025E)

Thai cassava-product structure (2024-2025)

Buyer-country mix (% of Thai cassava-product export volume)