European Cannabis Market Analysis

North American companies continue to make a serious bet on the medical cannabis market of European countries , which implies the continued expansion of primarily Canadian companies on the European market and the imposition of conditions favorable for transnational corporations to export medical cannabis to countries that are on the periphery of the European Union ( Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary ) either border the EU ( Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) as it is done by them in the countries of Latin America , Asia and Africa .

On the pages of the profile electronic publication of Ukrainian hemp breeders , brief characteristics of the legal medical hemp market in Great Britain , Denmark , the Netherlands , Germany , and Italy have already been given . Therefore, the information provided by American analysts of the international medical cannabis market , who estimated the volume of the European market in the amount of about $ 250 million and showed in the diagram how the given sector of modern hemp breeding was “spread out” in monetary terms in European countries , will be useful .

The conclusions of our overseas colleagues about the medical cannabis market in Europe will be interesting to understand the strategic tasks that are set for American and Canadian companies planning their further expansion to the European continent :

- In the long run , European countries will use hemp in large quantities , but for this many of them need to significantly change the current regulatory framework . Unlike Canada, the regulatory framework of most EU countries is in an “ infant state ”, and this factor makes most European hemp companies not competitive in the global market compared to their Canadian competitors in the first place ;

- the majority of European companies specializing in the cultivation , processing and sales of legal medical hemp do not have significant financial resources , so they will not be able to work for a long time without obtaining financial profit, unlike Canadian and American companies engaged in similar businesses ;

- the huge risks faced by European companies that have decided to work in the field of legal medical cannabis are that they build the necessary infrastructure even before the legislative norms governing this type of activity are approved , in the complete absence of by-laws and departmental acts , and before national markets begin to function ;

- about half the cost of the final product sold in Germany and Italy - a retail margin added to the cost of leaves and inflorescences or pharmacological preparations by pharmacies;

- 2019 can be called a relatively good year of sales for the two largest markets in Europe ( Germany and Italy ), however, all other programs related to medical hemp on the continent either did not grow much ( Netherlands ), or grew significantly based on a tiny starting point ( Czech Republic );

- corporate expectations that medical cannabis sales will grow exponentially after its use at the level of legal acts are regulated are not justified ( Denmark );

- Cannabinoid extracts are an important, but not the main category of cannabinoid products in Europe , which accounts for about 30% of recoverable sales in Germany and Austria .

Commentary experts of the Association " Ukrainian industrial hemp "

The conclusions of our overseas colleagues in reference to the realities of the national market confirm several key points that are forgotten behind the hype created around this issue, namely: 

- even European hemp companies are currently uncompetitive in comparison with similar companies from at least Canada , which already have an established export sales network and significant financial resources ;

- the medical cannabis market is developing exponentially over a not very long time ;

- large sales of pharmacological preparations made on the basis of the therapeutic properties of hemp are expected in cases where a significant part of the cost (full cost) is compensated by the state or insurance medicine;

- extracts of non-drug cannabinoids are not the main commodity position , which is popular with buyers of products based on the therapeutic properties of hemp ;

- North American companies continue to make a serious bet on the medical cannabis market of European countries , which implies the continued expansion of Canadian companies primarily on the European market and the imposition of conditions favorable for transnational corporations to export medical cannabis to countries located on the periphery of the European Union ( Portugal, Lithuania) , Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary ) or border the EU ( Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo ), as they do in Latin America , Asia and Africa .