Impact modifiers are expected to grow more for non-vinyl polymers

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Impact modifiers have been very widely used for Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), as PVC is inherently brittle and requires good impact resiliency for various applications, including window profiles etc. No wonder almost 66% of the total global demand of 550KT for impact modifiers is from PVC. However, the Vinyl markets have matured and therefore those impact modifiers used for PVC have a slower growth potential. In fact, the PVC impact modifiers are not likely to grow beyond 2-3% in the future.

Polyolefins, particularly PP, is now used in several applications where impact property is a critical requirement. The impact modification achieved through polymerization requires further enhancement in applications where impact modifiers play an important role. While EPDM and SEBS used quite commonly for impact modification will continue to grow quite well, some new impact modifiers such as cross-linked Acrylics and Polyolefin elastomer/plastomer would have a greater role to play. Another group of polymers - Polystyrene, would continue to use SEBS/SBS for impact modification. Engineering polymers such as Polyamide, Polycarbonate and Polyester are growing well in the automotive sector. These polymers also require special impact modifiers and are expected to show a healthy growth of more than 5-6% from a low level.

Table 1 given below describes the different types of polymers that use impact modifiers while table 2 summarizes the type of impact modifiers and their major suppliers.

Table 1 : Impact Modifier Product For Different Polymers

Polymer	Impact Modifier
PVC	ABS
	ASA
	MBS
	Acrylic
	CPE
	Elvaloy
	NBR
Polystyrene/HIPS	SBS/SEBS
Polyolefins	SEBS
	EPDM
	Polyolefin Elastomers/Plastomers
	Nonreactive modified Polyolefins
	Crosslinked Polyacrylate
Polyamides	MA-modified EPDM
	MA moldified SEBS
	Ionomers
	Reactive modified Polyolefins
Polycarbonate	Polycarbonate
Polyester	MA modified SEBS
	Reactive modified Polyolefins
	GMA modified ethylene- acrylate copolymers

Table 2 : Impact Modifier Suppliers

Impact Modifier	Key Suppliers
ABS	Crompton
ASA	Crompton
MBS	Atofina, Kaneka Rohm & Haas
Acrylic	Atofina, Kaneka, Rohm&Haas
CPE	Dupont, Dow
Elvaloy	Dupont
NBR	Eliochem
SBS/SEBS	Atofina,Kraton
EPDM	Crompton, Dupont-Dow, ExxonMobil
Polyolefin Elastomers/Plastomers	Dow, Dow-Dupont, ExxonMobil
Nonreactive modified Polyolefins	Atofina, Crompton, Dupont,
Crosslinked Polyacrylate	Optatech
MA-modified EPDM	Crompton,Dupont
Ionomers	Dupont
Reactive modified Polyolefins	Atofina,Dupont
SEBS	Atofina,Kraton
MA modified SEBS	Kraton
Reactive modified Polyolefins	Atofina,Dupont
GMA modified ethylene-acrylate copolymers	Dupont