Global polymer trends | markets feature
within a maturing industry. This has been compounded by the effects of the global recession. Furthermore, in many countries where the industry is still relatively small, the structure will be one in which there will be a handful of larger groups, often operating multiple processes. These will account for a signifi cant propor- tion of the polymer demand in that country, alongside a large number of much smaller players. In many parts of the world, plastics processing is also characterised by smaller, unorganised companies which operate just one or two machines in an intermittent fashion and purchase very small amounts of polymer. This kind of structure particularly applies to the injection moulding industry. All regions of the world are characterised by a large number of injection moulders, refl ecting the wide availability and relatively low cost of moulding equipment. AMI estimates that there are in the region of 130,000 injection moulding companies. The process is popular as it requires a relatively low investment to produce plastics goods for a local market. In broad terms, extrusion equipment, be it for fi lm, pipe or fi bre, tends to require greater capital investment and usually involves larger capacity machines.
Future outlook
In the 1980s and 1990s, the process of substitution of traditional materials and the forging of new applications ensured that polymer demand growth could outstrip economic growth. Since the turn of the century, polymer demand has increasingly moved in line with GDP trends. However, the scope for growth in developing parts of the world will ensure that the global polymer industry can still look forward to annual increases in demand of around 5%/year, which will result in a market in excess of 300 million tonnes by 2018.
More information Global Polymer Demand is an AMI
consulting data report. It provides detailed statistical data on the demand and end-use for all major thermoplastic materials worldwide.
For further information please
contact Carole Kluth at AMI Consulting (
cmk@amiplastics.com, +44 117 311 8120), or visit
http://bit.ly/AMIglobal.
www.amiplastics.com
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