World Demand for Thermoplastic Elastomers to Reach 6.7 Million Metric Tons in 2019
CLEVELAND - Global demand for thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) is forecast to rise 5.2 percent per year to 6.7 million metric tons in 2019, valued at more than $24 billion. Advances will be driven by ongoing product innovation on the part of TPE manufacturers, which will allow these materials to continue to displace traditional elastomers and thermoplastics in a variety of applications. Additionally, TPE demand will benefit from the ongoing push to reduce motor vehicle weight, particularly as fuel economy standards around the world become more stringent. Growth will also be boosted by an improved economic outlook in North America and Western Europe, while advances in developing countries will benefit from increased adoption of TPEs over competing materials. Limiting further gains, however, will be a high degree of maturity in slower growing markets such as footwear and motor vehicle bumpers. These and other trends are presented in World Thermoplastic Elastomers, a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.
Styrenic block copolymers (SBCs) will remain the leading TPE product type through 2019. However, as analyst Anna Andrews notes, “SBC demand will rise at a below-average pace compared to TPEs overall, limited by a high degree of market saturation in many large volume applications.” The fastest growth is expected for thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs), which are penetrating new applications in motor vehicle, consumer and medical product markets.