TPE compound market will put European consumption at 500,000 tonnes by 2008

The European market for thermoplastic elastomer compounds will grow by an average 4% per year in the period 2003 to 2008, according to a forecast by AMI Consulting.

West and central European demand for TPEs in 2003 was 400,000 tonnes, which should rise to nearly 500,00 tonnes by 2008, it said. But the market is complex and fragmented, covering a wide variety of products, applications, customers and suppliers.

Automotive and transport applications provide the main areas of growth for TPEs. “Where cost reduction is achieved it is usually through value-in-use benefits rather than because TPEs are supplied at a lower price than the existing material,” said AMI.

Styrene butadiene styrene block copolymer (SBS) is still the largest area of TPE demand but is forecast to decline. End-use in applications such as footwear have increasingly shifted production to the Far East.

The market for TPV (thermoplastic vulcanisates) and PVC is also expected to increase at rates of over 6% per year. The latter is driven by developments in the construction market where TPE PVC is used for door and window gaskets. Growth in TPV has been achieved largely as a replacement for EPDM.