Industry Trends

Europe Plastic Compounding Market share was valued at USD 32.9 Bn in 2019 and is anticipated to grow at a 5.0% CAGR between 2020 and 2026. The growth is attributable to the rising demand for automotive and construction applications.

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The demand for plastic compounding is majorly driven by its major applications in the automotive, consumer goods, and construction industries. Advanced engineered plastics have been steadily replacing traditional materials in these sectors. The supreme property of plastics offer broad benefits to the automotive industry while manufacturing vehicles. Construction applications of plastic compounding include pipes & guttering, window & door profiles, roofing, glazing, cement, sealants & adhesives, flooring, and building panels. The increasing demand for plastics in high-performance applications, such as safety windows, storage tanks, floorings, roofing, insulations materials, domes/skylights, doors, pipes, and cables is likely to accelerate the growth of plastic compounding market in the construction industry.

However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe effect on the market and flatlined the revenue growth. Upon the imposition of lockdowns by governments of several nations in the region, the production facilities had to observe a period of abeyance majorly due to disrupted supply chains and reduced consumer spending. Major end-use sectors, including automotive, consumer goods, electronics, and aerospace witnessed a plummeted demand. The demand for compound plastics in consumer goods application observed a drop of over -7% in 2020. But, due to the resuming production operations in China, recovering supply chain, and multiple support & stimulation packages by the European government, the overall plastic compounding market is anticipated to rebound at a significant growth rate of around 5% in 2021.

Growing Sales of Motor Vehicle Expected to Fuel the Plastic Compounding Market Size

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Based on end-use, automotive held a whopping 34.2% market share and accounted for the largest revenue generating segment in 2019. The large market share is attributable to the supreme property of plastics, which offer broad benefits to the automotive business while manufacturing vehicles. Plastic is taking over metals in the automotive sector primarily due to its high impact strength, aesthetics, superior moldability, scratch resistance, lightweight, cabin insulation, and recyclability. An average car contains 10%-15% plastic by weight compared to the total car weight. In 2019, European Union produced 18.5 million vehicles, accounting to be 20% of the global production. Hence, automobile production boosts the plastic compounding demand on a large scale and is expected to propel the market growth size during the forecast timeframe.

Among the product types, the thermoplastic elastomers segment is anticipated to showcase a substantial growth rate with a 7.0% CAGR during the forecast period, 2020 to 2026. It has already witnessed significant gains as it evolved as an alternative for natural or synthetic rubber, metal, wood, glass, or conventional engineered plastic including PVC. Moreover, the budding consumer spending in consumer goods, automotive, medical, and construction industries coupled with efficient chemical and physical benefits of thermoplastic elastomers in structural applications will probably boost the product demand, thereby, increasing the European plastic compounding market size over the forecast span.

Key players in the Europe market include Dow Chemical Company, BASF, SE, LyondellBasell Industries N.V., Kraton Corporation, Solvay SA, Owens Corning Corp., Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), RTP Company, AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH, Agiplast Italia Srl. Biesterfeld AG, and The Compound Company BV, among others.