Engineering plastics

Manufacturers

I   Perspectives and Strategies in Engineering Plastics Market

• The market can slowdown due to declining growth in Asian economics and slower demands in Europe because of lengthy recession
• The market of five widely-used engineering plastics (POM, PA, PC, m-PPE, PBT) is likely to expand to the level of 10 million tons
• Series of newly-constructed and increased plants eased supply and demands of engineering plastics
• Japanese manufacturers are in haste to improve their profitability
• Products are enhanced with added-values and extensive application development by developing comprehensively-processed models from polimerization to molding
• Polyplastics, following Toray and LANXESS, has also started trial molding process.

II  Current Status and Perspectives of Respective Engineering Plastics

1.PC

• Fiercer price competition is underway because of series of enhancement by PC amanufacturers and lessened demands
• Variety of grades has been developed for LED lighting, the category of which can expect further growth.
• Teijin and MEP fell behind of SABIC and Bayer in the automobile glazing

2.PA

2-1.PA6/PA66

• Sound demands for extruding use, growing demands for injection use because of increased number of vehicles produced
• Manufacturers from U.S. and Europe still keep their large market share in PA6 and PA66
• Demands for main use are smoothly expanding
• There is a sign of expansion due to increase of resin-used oil-pans produced in Europe
• Heat-resistant PA has been started recognized as down-sizing concept has spread

2-2.PA11、12

• Application has expanded, for instance, to be used for flexible pipes for oil and/or gas lines

3.POM

• World-wide demands continue to grow by more than 2%, in spite of some of influences caused by economic slowdown in China
• Series of newly-constructed and increased POM plants in China, ASEAN nations and South Korea
• Low VOC grade is smoothly expanding which leads to introduction of a conductive grade to the market in 2014

4.PBT

• With increasing number of automobiles produced, and increasing rate of automobiles equipped with electronic technologies, the global demands continue to grow by 4%
• Series of marketization of non-enhanced, nonconbustibilized, and shock-resistant grades

5.m-PPE (modified-Polyphenyleneether)

• Sound growth seen for the use in automobiles, PV, and rechargeable batteries, attaining about annual 3% growth rates
• Steady demands for OA chassis and mechanism elements
• Increasing adoption of "NORYL GTX" for automobile body parts

6.PPS

• Driven by the automobile cateogories, the global demands are expected to exceed 100,000 tons by 2015
• SK-Teijin-collaborated company aims to newly enter the market in FY2015
• Fiercer competition between DIC and Toray for the top-market-share position
• Extended demands in automobile categories to be used for various parts of gasoline cars, HV or EV cars
• Increasing demands to be used for power modules and inverter cases in the electricity and electronics categories
• Demands are expected to expand for industrial use

7.LCP

• Global demands have been declining because of deceasing sales of PCs and growinguse of recycled materials
• Signs of easing balance of supply and demands
• development of grades that can handle smaller and thinner connecters
• New demands have become full-bloom for automobile category
• New potential of LCP is groped for use in films and textile
• 17 companies

III   Current Status and Perspectives of Engineering Plastics Molders

• Business growth can be seen for global molders after they have succeeded in expanding foreign-affiliated users
• Net profit margin of enplas Corporation at the end of March 2014 was 21.5%, leaving other market players behind
• 8 companies