AMI has recently completed a new guide to Europe’s cable industry. Andrew Reynolds looks at how the market is changing
Monitoring changes in Europe’s cable industry
Cables continue to be at the forefront of technical innovation in the plastics sector in terms of the formulation and modification of resins and the develop- ment of additives, particularly concerning flame retardant applications and use of low smoke and fume, zero halgoen (LSFOH) polymers. In the past three years there has been a consolidation
of the cable market as companies look to expand their geographical reach and boost their negotiating power both with raw material suppliers and the end users of cables. Many companies have been refocusing their product range with plants specialising in the manufac- ture of particular cables supplied to certain markets. These changes are often driven by local demand.
Polymer demand in cables Applied Market Information (AMI) has recently com- pleted a new edition of its Guide to the Cable Industry in Europe with full details of 326 production sites. Its analysis of the production of these companies reveals that Europe’s current annual consumption of cable compounds is more than 1.2 million tonnes. Despite the impact of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009
and the current eurozone crisis, production of cable appears to be growing in Europe overall, although it is still below the volumes seen in 2007. The European cables market is difficult to analyse as
a whole because there are such a wide variety of material options available and these tend to vary considerably on a geographical basis. Despite attempts at European harmonisation, standards still vary significantly from country to country and this also affects material selection. PVC remains the main polymer material used in
cable production in Europe, and indeed the world, with close to 90% of cable extrusion sites processing PVC. It accounts for close to half of the European cable industry’s polymer demand. The resin has been favoured for so long by cable
producers because of its competitive price, technical performance and ease of processing. Many cable producers also have their own in-house PVC compound- ing facilities, ensuring a commitment to this material. However, over the past decade its use by West
European cable extruders has declined steadily by around 2-3% per year. This trend is forecast to continue