Automobiles and construction to boost global growth of thermoplastic elastomers

01-Mar-16

The global demand for thermoplastic elastomers was 3,096.4 kilo tons in 2009 which increased to 3,407.9 kilo tons in 2010. The global market for thermoplastic elastomers is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2012 to 2018, as per mrrse.com. The demand for thermoplastic elastomers is driven primarily by the growing demand for light weight and high performance material from the automobile industry which is the biggest end use industry for thermoplastic elastomers, accounting for approximately 50% of the total TPEs consumption. Shift towards replacing PVC with thermoplastic elastomers from the major end use industries such as automobiles and construction is also acting as one of the crucial factors propelling the growth of the market. However, the volatility in raw material prices and the regulatory issues owing to growing environmental concerns are acting as major factors which are inhibiting market growth. Owing to these issues, the world is shifting towards developing bio-based alternatives to synthetic thermoplastic elastomers which provides a clean and an economically feasible solution to the growing demand of thermoplastic elastomers. The global demand for SBCs in footwear market was estimated to be 415.8 kilo tons in 2011 and is expected to reach 540.5 kilo tons by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2012 to 2018. In terms of revenues, the market was estimated to be US$939.5 mln in 2011 and is expected to reach US$1367.3 mln by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2012 to 2018.