A steady increase in plastics consumption and overall economic activity is delivering global recovery from a slowdown in sales of transparent plastics.
Declining CD and DVD production, and packaging, led producers to find new markets in electronics, automotive and medical devices. Those users are underpinning the industry, finds a new BCC Research study. The report – Rigid Transparent Plastics – updates a 2015 review of the global market for 10 billion pounds of plastics, estimated to rise to 14 billion pounds by 2022.
Corporations, including PPG Industries, Covestro, BASF, Eastman Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemicals compete on products, ranging from injection-moulded, blow-moulded, extruded or thermoformed items. An expected CAGR over five percent in polycarbonates compares to four percent growth in acrylics and five percent in polystyrenes, the report found. Packaging for healthcare and food applications was not included in this study.
Seventy seven percent of the industry production volume now goes to electronics and building construction. The North American market of 4.3 billion pounds produced in 2016 is forecast to increase to nearly 4.5 billion in 2017 and 5.6 billion by 2022.
“The shift to downloading and streaming entertainment and slowdown in optical data storage on CD and DVD played a significant role in interrupting this industry,” says Kevin Fitzgerald, editorial director, BCC Research.
“However, new weight-saving needs are emerging. There are improvements in transparency and durability that are bringing new consumers and filling those gaps for clear, rigid plastics,” added Fitzgerald.
