Dynamic Plastics Market Presents Challenges and Opportunities

JCT Coatingstech Magazine

May 2007

Volume 4, No. 5

Market Update

Page 38-44

Excerpts from… “Dynamic Plastics Market Presents Challenges and Opportunities for Coatings Formulators and Their Suppliers”

By Cynthia Challener, JCT Coatingstech Contributing Writer

The automotive market is the largest consumer of coatings for plastics, with applications for both interior and exterior parts accounting for just under 50% of total sales, according to the ChemQuest Group, Inc. Resilient flooring is the second largest end user of coated plastics and accounts for about 20% of sales. Other applications include stamping foils, plastic signs and sheeting, office equipment, sporting goods, consumer electronics and appliances, and eyewear.

…..the relative cost of plastics compared to alternative materials is becoming increasingly higher, according to The ChemQuest Group, Inc. Consequently, the consumption of plastics in auto interiors may be reaching a saturation point.

“Combined, these factors indicate that the overall use of plastics in the automotive sector will experience low growth or possibly even decline slightly,” comments Dan Murad, president and CEO of The ChemQuest Group, Inc. He notes that while car weight has slightly increased in recent years, the plastics usage per vehicle has been flat. One positive note is that with higher energy prices, more emphasis may be placed on achieving further weight reductions, a shift that could lead to more plastics being used.

Related to the constantly changing variety of plastics being supplied for the automotive industry is the substitution of certain types of traditionally used plastics with other lower-cost formulations. In exterior applications, high density plastics are being replaced with lower density plastics and thick-wall parts with thin-wall parts, according to Murad.

(To read the complete article…and more comments on DYNAMIC PLASTICS MARKET PRESENTS CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR COATINGS FORMULATORS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS………see JCT Coatingstech Magazine – May 2007 issue...Market Update)