Plastic additives industry grows to US$32 bln

05-Sep-08

Demand from China has helped drive growth in the plastic additives industry, pushing the industry to 12.2 mln tons in 2007. The industry as a whole was valued at $32 billion, according to the new Global Plastic Additives report from the experts at Townsend Polymer Services and Information. The single most important mega trend affecting the plastic additives industry is emerging China. Exploding demand for both domestically processed and imported plastics, especially in PVC, has resulted in China accounting for 28% of worldwide additives volume. China now surpasses all other reporting regions. In additives products for plastics, it is not surprising that plasticizers, predominately used in PVC, remain the largest product category and account for 54% of total global volume. However, use of flame retardants in plastics grew at one of the fastest rates worldwide for all additives. Increased acceptance of plastics, replacing other fabrication materials, requires incorporation of flame retardant additives to reduce the personal and property hazards and risks of fire. The $32 billion plastic additives industry continues undergoing structural market changes, such as globalization, product life cycle maturity, strong growth in emerging markets, low-cost Asian sourcing and regulatory pressures. These factors are profoundly re-shaping the industry supply chain.