Car parts made from sugar or vegetable oil? Engineering plastics are usually still more expensive than standard plastics. However, they not only offer outstanding mechanical and chemical properties, but increasingly also natural raw materials and organic qualities. Ceresana has analyzed the global market for these amazing high-performance polymers: Over 24 million tonnes of ABS, PC, PA, PMMA, POM, PBT, SAN and fluoropolymers are currently sold each year. Demand for the colorful array of abbreviations will continue to grow: The new “Market Study Engineering Plastics” forecasts that global demand for engineering plastics will increase by around 2.6% per year until 2033. The largest sales markets for this are China, the USA, Germany, and Japan.
High-tech plastics follow bio-trend
Engineering plastics are often used where other materials can no longer keep up: high temperatures, aggressive chemicals, extreme requirements. The lightweight, almost infinitely moldable, cost-effective and sometimes even recyclable high-performance plastics replace metal, glass or ceramics in plain bearings, gears, seals, insulators, housings, and other demanding applications. The trend towards bioplastics and bio-additives has also reached engineering plastics. Polyamide (PA), for example, better known as nylon and mainly used for textiles, and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), which is sold under brand names such as Plexiglas or Acrylite, are already fully or at least partially bio-based. Mitsubishi Chemical manufactures polycarbonate (PC) from glucose: PC is the basic material for smartphone covers, earphones, safety helmets, and even car radiator grills. The Japanese-American company Polyplastics develops “carbon-negative” polyoxymethylene (POM) from fermented biomass, or carbon dioxide and hydrogen: POM is used for injection molded parts of all kinds.
ABS is the best-selling engineering plastic
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene currently dominates the market for engineering plastics by a wide margin: ABS accounts for around 41% of global demand. Typical ABS products include door panels for cars, housings for electrical appliances, films, pipes and covers, but also shower heads, toys, sports and leisure products. ABS is mainly used in the automotive industry, for electrics and electronics, and in smaller quantities in the construction industry and for household goods. Consumer goods, as well as electrical and electronic products are currently the largest sales markets for engineering plastics. However, Ceresana expects another area of application to achieve the highest growth in the coming years: the transportation industry. In contrast, demand from the construction industry is expected to develop more weakly. For the fifth time, the new market study by Ceresana provides comprehensive figures on demand, revenue, production, and trade for the entire global market for engineering plastics, as well as demand for the various types of plastics and their applications.
The Current Market Study on Engineering Plastics:
Chapter 1 provides a description and analysis of the global market for engineering plastics – including forecasts up to 2033: For Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and the rest of the world, demand and production in tonnes as well as revenues in USD and EUR are detailed. In addition to market development and price trends, global and regional demand per type of plastic, per application area and the demand for individual products per application are analyzed. The following products are examined in detail: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide (PA), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), Polyoxymethylene (POM), Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), Styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) and Fluoropolymers. Application areas analyzed in this study are: Transportation, especially the automotive industry, Electrical and electronics, Consumer goods, Construction and other applications.
In Chapter 2 the national markets for engineering plastics in 25 countries are examined individually. Country-specific demand, revenues, production and trade, demand per product and type of plastic, and demand per application are detailed for various geographical markets, in particular for: Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, the USA, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan.
Chapter 3 provides useful company profiles of the largest producers of engineering plastics – clearly arranged according to contact details, revenue, profit, product range, production sites, production capacities, and profile summary. In-depth profiles of 66 manufacturers of engineering plastics are supplied, for example of BASF SE, LyondellBasell Industries N.V., China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), PetroChina Co., Ltd., and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).
Further information on the new edition of the market study „Engineering Plastics – World” (5th edition)“: https://ceresana.com/en/produkt/engineering-plastics-market-report
About Ceresana
As one of the world’s leading market research institutes, Ceresana specializes in the chemicals, plastics, packaging, and industrial goods sectors. Special focus areas are bio-economy and automotive / mobility. Companies have been benefiting from our high-quality industry analyses and forecasts since 2002 More than 250 market studies provide more than 10,000 customers around the world with the knowledge base for their sustainable success.
Learn more about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com
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