Medical Styrenic polymers market will surpass US$1.5 bln by 2024, as per Global Market Insights, Inc. North America will contribute substantially towards global revenue as massive expansion of medical industry propels the regional growth over 2017-2024. Pressing need to substitute plastics including PVC in the medical industry owing to its hazardous environmental implications will drive medical styrenic polymers market size by 2024. PVC is extensively utilized in the healthcare industry to create devices for storing IV solutions, blood/medicine containers, tubes and connectors owing to brilliant clarity and ability to withstand broad range of temperature conditions. However, significant amount of toxic component released from PVC which may contaminate IV fluids and migrate into human body has led to formulation of strict regulations to gradually replace these products with styrene plastic which is eco-friendly and plasticizer free making it desirable across medical & healthcare industry.
Paradigm shift from metallic medical devices to polymer devices owing to its desirable attributes which includes design flexibility, better physical characteristics, light weight and cost efficiency will make significant contribution towards medical styrenic polymer market size by 2024. In addition, increasing preference for smaller size medical devices along with complex functionality will result in escalating product demand by 2024. This is primarily due to easily micro-molding nature of plastic to produce small components with high tolerance. High product price compared to its existing counterparts in the business is probable to hamper medical styrenic polymer market size in the near future. For instance, polyethylene is growing at a faster pace in the industry compared to styrene polymers owing to its lower price. However, increasing population aged above 65 years coupled with technology advancements and stringent regulations against traditional plastic and metallic devices in the healthcare industry will generate plentiful opportunities for the medical styrenic polymer market size over the projected time spell.
Polystyrene accounted for the largest chunk of medical styrenic polymer market share in 2016. The product is majorly used in manufacturing medical devices, equipment, packaging, etc. due to its rigid and cost-effective nature. Furthermore, excellent physical attributes including transparency, easy availability in several colors is likely to stimulate medical styrenic polymer market size for the segment by 2024. ABS is amongst one of the fastest growing segment for medical applications owing to its unique combination of properties including easily colored, excellent finish and high-quality gloss. Moreover, it exhibits brilliant chemical resistance to heat and chemicals which will benefit in achieving promising growth for the medical styrenic polymer market size in the coming years.
Medical instruments segment captured the highest market share and is expected to register CAGR close to 7.5% over the projected time spell. Increasing product use to manufacture devices & equipment owing to stringent regulations imposed against PVC use is likely to make prominent contribution to medical styrenic polymers market size by 2024. Medical fabrics segment will witness promising gains owing to increasing product use to manufacture masks, operating gowns, surgical/orthopedic drapes, patient gowns, dressings in the coming years to gradually replace conventional plastic use from medical industry. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region for this market by 2024. This is credited to increasing healthcare ethics and environment friendly material use for widespread medical applications which will subsequently boost the regional medical styrene polymers market size by 2024.
Key industry share contributors of medical styrenic polymers are Craton Polymers, Styrolution Group, Styron, Americas Styrenics, INEOS ABS, Chevron Phillips and SABIC.

As per Zion Market Research, in the medical industry, styrenic polymers are used in the medical devices such as tubes, connectors, IV spikes, equipment housing, bags, liquid delivery systems, and medical packaging. Polystyrene, SAN, ABS, and styrenic block polymers such as SEBS and SBS are the common styrenic polymers that are used for manufacturing medical devices and packaging, thus contributing to the global market growth. Polystyrene is the widely used styrenic polymer in the medical applications while ABS co-polymer dominates the styrenic market. The processing of styrenic materials can be flexible as well as rigid as per the requirement of the end-user. Styrenic polymers provide advantages in design and development of medical parts and devices owing to their flexibility, hence widely used in the market. Additional properties such as unique bonding polarity, chemical inertness, and aesthetic and physical properties are driving this market. The fact that styrenic polymers are costly as compared to other medical polymers such as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride may hamper the market growth. North America dominated the market for styrenic polymers for the medical applications. Asia Pacific and Europe followed North America in terms of the usage of styrenic polymers in medical applications. In the coming years, the market will be ruled by Asia Pacific owing to the rapid developments in the medical field and the growing population. The growth in the infrastructure industry will make the Asia-Pacific region to become the largest consumer of the styrenic polymers market. The production of styrenic polymers is done by the polymerization of styrene monomers and chemical compounds such as butadiene, acrylonitrile, and others. Owing to the increasing applications such as in packaging, automotive, building and construction, and appliances, the production of styrene-based derivatives is a growing trend. The traditional metallic devices are now being replaced by polymers that can be processed easily, hence the medical plastics market is expanding significantly. The polymers that contain styrene as the main component are known as styrenic polymers. Styrene is produced from ethylene and benzene. The most common styrenic polymer is polystyrene. The physical and chemical properties of styrenic copolymers depend on other monomers in the styrenic polymer chain.
On the basis of type, the global styrenic polymers market is categorized into acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, methyl-methacrylate butadiene styrene, styrene methyl-methacrylate, styrene ethylene butylene styrene, polystyrene, styrene acrylonitrile, methyl-methacrylate acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and styrene butadiene styrene.
Based on the applications, the global market is classified into medical, building and construction, electrical and electronics, automotive industry, consumer goods, marine accessories, and packaging.