Energy Efficiency and Comfort with the Help of Polyurethanes

KONSTANZ, Germany - Sept. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Polyurethane (PUR) is a versatile, durable plastic. As forecasts published in the latest of Ceresana's studies show, global demand for PUR will continue to rise during the next couple of years. Important reasons are far-reaching global trends such as increasing mobility, climate change, demographic changes, scarcities of resources, urbanization, and a growing middle class in emerging countries. PUR prices are comparatively low and the material is highly popular, given its propitious properties such as longevity, versatility, and dimensional stability.

Increased Consumption thanks to Energy Efficiency

All around the globe, energy efficiency is becoming more and more important in buildings, vehicles, and electric devices, which will lead to an increasing use of PUR as insulating material. The international market research institute forecasts global demand for PUR to rise by, on average, 4.5% per year. „Our research revealed that revenues generated on the global market for PUR are likely to increase to more than 80 billion US dollars", explains Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana. For the first time, all market participants are able to get a complete overview over all relevant data and facts as well as background information. Besides PUR, the study also contains separate analyses regarding the two preliminary products methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI).

Growth Motor Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific already is the prime market, accounting for about 44% of global demand, followed by North America and Western Europe. Ceresana forecasts the focus of PUR demand to continue to shift towards Asia-Pacific, at the expense of saturated industrialized markets in Western Europe and North America. Demand in emerging countries, on the other hand, is profiting from a continuous increase of wealth. The by far most important growth motor on the international market is China.

Considerable Increases in Capacity

In order to satisfy the rising demand for PUR, production capacities have to be expanded considerably - especially so in Asia-Pacific. In total, global isocyanate capacity, currently amounting to 8.8 million tonnes, will increase by more than 3 million tonnes by 2020. Over 81% of these new capacities will be created in Asia-Pacific. As the study explains in detail, especially the development of new PUR-based materials for an increasing number of applications is necessitating a significant increase of production capacity.

Prime Market Construction

Due to its range of advantageous properties, PUR is suitable for a broad range of applications: building insulation, cooling and refrigerating units, furniture and bedding, shoes, vehicles, varnishes, coatings, adhesives, binders, and rubber. But also the segments sports and leisure as well as electronics and electrics are reporting a rising demand for polyurethanes. A major consumer of PUR is the construction industry, as a range of state-funded programs target at improving energy efficiency. All around the world, PUR-based products are used in the construction of new residential buildings and in the refurbishment of older structures. Even on saturated markets, this can provide growth impulses.

The study in brief:

Chapter 1 offers a description and analysis of the global PUR market. Demand, revenues, and production volume are explained in detail. Additionally, data on demand for MDI and TDI as well as existing and future production capacity is provided. This report provides a comprehensive overview over development expected for individual countries and regions as well as global market dynamics.
Chapter 2 examines the 13 largest countries of the market more closely. Detailed information is given regarding demand, revenues, production, trade, and demand for isocyanates. Demand for PUR, MDI, and TDI is analyzed in great detail, split by the application areas Furniture / Bedding, Construction, Industrial goods, Transportation, and other applications.
Chapter 3 offers analyses of individual applications areas for PUR, e.g. the use as insulating material in form of blocks or sheets. Data on demand development, split by Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa as well as consumption figures for specific regions will be given.
Chapter 4 constitutes a useful list of producers that manufacture MDI and TDI, clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, profile summary, product-specific information as well as existing and future capacities at individual production sites. Extensive profiles of 23 manufacturers are provided, for example BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical, Huntsman International, Nippon Polyurethane, Wanhua-BorsodChem, and Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes.

www.ceresana.com/en/Market-Studies/Plastics/Polyurethanes-Isocyanates

About Ceresana:

Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector and operates branch offices in Constance, Vienna and Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, it has been supplying several thousand customers from 55 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions.
Ceresana's clients profit from practical consulting services, tailor-made single client studies and more than 40 independent multi-client market studies.
The Ceresana business analysts are specialists in the markets chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, packaging, and construction materials.