UK research group AMI is expecting polyamide demand among European processors to reach 986,000 tonnes in 2010, after hitting a level of 863,000 tonnes in 2006.
This equates to a growth rate of 3.4% per annum up to 2010, slightly lower than the rate of 3.7% recorded for the last three years, but still relatively strong. Demand for PA resin and compounds compares favourably with the average GDP growth rate in Europe, which is expected to be 2.3% per year up to 2010.
The automotive injection moulding sector is the single largest market, accounting for 29.9% of PA demand in Europe in 2006. Over the last 20 years, PA has successfully displaced metal in a large number of applications.
In its PA market report, AMI forecasts growth of up to 4% per year for PA in automotive applications, despite little or no growth being expected in volumes of cars produced in Europe.
The second largest end-market for PA in Europe is injection moulded parts in the electrical engineering industry, which accounted for 21.8% of the market in 2006. AMI expects demand from this sector to increase by 2.5% per year up to 2010.
The customer base for processors using PA has become more concentrated over the last five years, particularly in the automotive, electrical and film packaging sectors. The largest 100 groups accounted for 280,000 tonnes, or 32% of total PA demand, in 2006.
UK research group AMI is expecting polyamide demand among European processors to reach 986,000 tonnes in 2010, after hitting a level of 863,000 tonnes in 2006.