Rising ABS and San demand to drive growth engineering plastics market in India to 2019

08-Dec-14

Engineering plastics have gradually replaced traditional engineering materials such as wood or metal in many applications. In the midst of unique properties such as lower weight and higher strength, engineering plastics are much easier to manufacture, especially in complicated shapes. Hence, the engineering plastics industry of India has substantial growth potential in the country, since untapped opportunities still exist for metal replacement in cars, trucks, consumer appliances as well as in other applications. Furthermore, the growth in Asian economies is likely to be driven by increasing usage of engineering plastics in segments including electrical & electronics segment, automotive and construction sector. Engineering plastics are superior to general-purpose plastics in terms of heat resistance, transparency and mechanical features. Engineering plastic industry in India has been primarily dominated by the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) thermoplastic resin, which commanded a major in the overall revenues of the engineering plastic industry during FY-2014. In terms of market revenues, ABS plastic resin was the second largest market of the engineering plastic industry in India, finding extensive usage in the automotive sector, which has significantly grown over the last couple of years, determined by the surge in personal disposable incomes as well as busier lifestyles. The global demand for ABS and SAN resin is about 18 mln tons as recorded during FY-2010, as per Ken Research. Over the years, automotive and transportation applications industry has realized the importance of engineering plastics over metals due to massive reduction in vehicle weight, supplemented with lower production costs. This has enhanced the usage of engineering plastics in the automotive industry. The competition in the engineering plastic market has been largely captured by few major players such as DSM engineering plastics, BASF India, Bhansali Engineering Polymers, Styrolution India and several others. These players have commanded a sizeable market share in the overall engineering plastic market, despite of having a number of SMEs operating under this business. The engineering plastic market revenues in the future are expected to augment at the CAGR of 21.7% during FY’2014-FY’2019. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) segment is likely to sustain its dominance in India’s engineering plastic market space during the period FY-2015 to FY-2019.