The North American market for the films will grow at more than 3% a year

The North American market for the films will grow at more than 3% a year

The $3.6bn (E2.9bn) North American market for high-performance films is expected to grow at more then 3% a year to 2008. A report from Business Communications Company reveals that although volumes of high-performance plastic films are relatively low compared to commodity films, the value of this market is disproportionately high.

While commodity films are still dominant in terms of volume they are less so in value. In 2003 commodity films accounted for 5.2 million tonnes while high-performance films were 591,000 tonnes. This should increase to 690,000 tonnes by 2008. The volume of high-performance films is growing at 3.2%, while commodity films are growing at 2.8%.

Nylon, polyester and polyolefin-based products account for almost 95% of high-performance films. However, the remaining 5% in volume – based on materials such as PEN, LCPs, Peek and PEI – accounts for 26% of the value.