Additives market set to grow, says BCC

This resilience stems from the culmination of lengthy restructuring within the industry.

BCC said: “The plastics additive industry turned the corner in 2007 after undergoing more than five strenuous years of structural market changes, including reduction in margins, rapid increases in feedstock prices, product-lifecycle maturity, transfer of growth to emerging markets, and regulatory pressures.”

The group expects the global market for plastics additives to grow only marginally to an estimated $37.4bn in 2009, up from $36.2bn in 2008. But it forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% over the next five years, which will increase the market size to $45.8bn in 2014.

In BCC’s new report, the market is broken down into property modifiers, property stabilizers, property extenders and processing aids. Of these, the property modifiers segment has the largest share of the market, worth $18.2bn in 2008. This segment is expected to increase to $18.7bn in 2009 and $22.9bn in 2014, at an annual growth rate of 4.1%.

The second-largest segment is property stabilizers, which generated $12.1bn in 2008 and an estimated $12.6bn in 2009. This should increase at 4.2% per annum to $15.4bn in 2014.

Property extenders have the third-largest market share, with revenues of $3.8bn in 2008. This segment is expected to increase to $3.9bn in 2009 and $4.8bn in 2014, also at an annual rate of 4.2%.

BCC said: “Although used at only 5% to 7% in terms of weight, or about 10% by cost, [additives] provide immense benefits and have contributed to the success of plastics.”

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