Global polymer and thermoplastic micro molding market at a CAGR of 14% to 2019

04-Dec-13

Micro molding is used for manufacturing micro switches, connectors and airbag sensors in the automotive industry. It is expected to grow at an estimated CAGR of nearly 14% from 2013 to 2019. Global thermoplastic micro molding demand from drive systems and control is expected to reach over US$89 mln by 2019, as per Research and Markets. Medical and healthcare applications dominated thermoplastics micro molding market and accounted for 35% of the total market in 2012. The rapid development of micro fluidics technology mainly in North America and Europe is expected to drive the market for micro molding in medical and healthcare over the forecast period. Micro molding is used for manufacturing micro connectors in telecom fiber optics. Telecom fiber optics application is expected to exceed US$95 mln by 2019. Silicone is the major raw material used for micro molding, owing to its physical and chemical properties. However, silicone is costly and impacts the profitability of molders. In order to reduce manufacturing cost, polymers came into existence in the 90s. Polymer based micro molded products find applications in almost all of the application areas where silicones are being used. Polymers are further classified as thermosets, thermoplastics and elastomers out of which thermoplastics are majorly used for various applications in end-use industries. In the medical industry, micro injection molding is conducted to manufacture parts such as sensors, implants, tubes, catheter tips, micro optics and others. Molded products are slowly replacing machined components that have been used traditionally in the industry. The growing trend of small devices coupled with increasing number of minimally invasive surgeries per day has been boosting the demand for micro sized parts from medical device manufacturers. The key advantage of micro injection molding over micromachining is cost savings. Micro injection molding takes a fraction of time to mold the components and utilizes low cost raw materials compared to machining and results in high cost savings.