High performance polymers projected to grow at 6.1 percent pa over next 5 years

随着塑料生产商在经济放缓，原材料价格上涨和竞争不断增长的情况下挣扎，该行业的一个亮点仍然是高性能聚合物（HPP）。在过去的几年中，该类别的发展迅速，目前是6.1美元的BLN行业，预计在未来五年内将以6.1％的复合年增长率增长。Principia Partners的全球市场研究为该行业提供了基准，该行业跨越了9个不同的高性能聚合物家族，这些家庭为8个不同的末端市场服务，并对该行业进行了深入和批判性分析。高性能聚合物继续表现出超过GDP增长的增长率。进入高性能聚合物行业，新聚合物介绍和与金属的物质间竞争的新公司使该领域变得有趣。为各种应用食用各种高性能聚合物的8个末端市场是：
- 大号和防御，高性能聚合物的终端市场价值为290亿美元，涉及易燃性，烟雾和毒性的需求不断增加，预计将以7.1％的复合年增长率到2012年增长
-Automotive, an end-market that consumed US$1.3 bln worth of HPPs in 2007, is forecasted to grow at 5.7% over the next 5 years with continued metal replacement and to address increasing temperature performance requirements in engine compartments
电脑和外设占美元180毫升n of HPP consumption, projected to grow at 8.3%, where key issues include miniaturization and related heat management, and also increasing use of multi-function products that combine printers, copiers, and fax machines in a single device.
- 消费者，其中HPP用于广泛的应用，例如电器，炊具，体育用品和其他家居用品，估计价值为420万美元，增长了5.2％。经济放缓使该领域的增长受到了抑制
- 电气和电子产品，是高价$ 1.8 bln的最大端市场，预测将增长为6.8％，在这种情况下，对电子设备的调节以及对电子设备的需求不断增长，是HPP消耗的一些增长驱动因素
- 工业化，主要包括化学加工，油气，食品加工，发电厂和水处理，估计为1.4美元的HPP消费量为5.6％
- 售价为290亿美元，预计将增长8.7％，而HPP在需要强度和刚度，无菌性和生物相容性的应用中使用
该研究还估计了其他应用领域，例如在涂料中使用HPP进行建筑和建设，并在2007年的价值为390万美元。尽管大多数高性能聚合物继续被模制，但其他形式，例如膜，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维，纤维（库存形状和涂料正在扩大高性能聚合物的覆盖范围。从聚合树脂到可用形式的物品，高性能聚合物的价值链估计超过14美元。该分析详细介绍了供求平衡的全球变化以及规范和消费点之间的差异。例如，尽管中国对高性能聚合物的需求增长很高，但大多数供应商一直不愿增加该地区的聚合能力。公司在承诺在中国进行树脂生产之前，谨慎地进入中国市场，并在该地区进行了复杂的运营以及该地区的销售和营销办公室。对高性能聚合物的需求增长是根据潜在的市场增长，新的应用开发和规范的函数来划定的。尽管某些聚合物类别（例如荧光聚合物）由于应用程序开发的放缓而目睹了相对较低的增长，但基于电气和电子学中广泛使用，其他类别（例如LCP）被预计是增长最快的。

HPP have been among the fastest-growing product groups for many years, giving way to new applications driven by innovation and product development. Market interest is particularly high in these materials because they offer suppliers high margins. The market is characterised by material volumes considerably lower than commodity and even many engineering polymers. However, higher pricing means that the market is still substantial in terms of revenue. According to Frost & Sullivan, in Europe the market was worth €1.6 bln in 2007, and will grow at a rate of 7% through 2014. Polymers at the top end of the performance scale, such as PEEK, will show growth rates that are much higher than this average, while the comparatively higher-volume fluoropolymers will grow at a lower annual rate. Important factors driving demand include product development and innovation, increasing performance requirements, new applications and the effect of regulatory controls. Regulations such as RoHS, WEEE, and the impetus in areas such as emission control act in favour of high-performance plastics, as they can provide fire resistance without the addition of harmful chemicals such as halogenated flame retardants. However, HPPs also present unique challenges to overcome if the real benefits from these market drivers are to be realized, such as:
Timing Capacity Additions:Building capacities requires considerable investment, as the production processes are generally much more complicated than for engineering plastics. Since companies are reluctant to invest in capital expansion, the market has often been limited by a lack of production capacity. This can result in potential end-users resorting to competing product types because of a lack of availability. Producers of products that have no parallel, shy from augmenting capacities as they do not want to see prices going down because of excess capacity.
Managing Geographical Presence:对于主要进口的材料，因为它在特定地区没有生产能力，因此任何选择建立生产设施的供应商都有明确的竞争优势。然而，在时间上浪费之后，需求减少的担忧使几名球员远离了。竞争力的关键成为有效的分销管理。由于需要高水平的技术能力，因此在该行业中，使用分销商或化合物并不是首选。如果公司要利用制造业不断变化的动态，包括劳动力成本更便宜的国家，地理扩张很重要。
Competitive Structure:In this market, several manufacturers account for majority of the market share, in particular for PPS, PEEK, LCP and polysulphone. For the comparatively well-established high-performance polyamides and fluoroplastics, market share is spread across a wider supplier base. The early movers will continue to hold the advantage over the rest as they have developed their strengths across the supply chain, and have established brand names.

Driven by innovation and application development, high-performance polymers will continue to grow through 2014, with many product types growing at double-digit or near double-digit rates. Newer players are entering these markets and current suppliers are mulling expansions to expand into newer product lines, increasing competition in the market. Increased availability of these polymers will also generate economies of scale over the long term, bringing prices down and further accelerating growth. Conditions are favourable for using high-performance polymers in many key end-user segments, such as automotive and electronics. But increasing levels of competition will also mean that suppliers will have to be strong in key areas such as innovation and market strategy, be keenly aware of competition, and closely monitor market requirements and the regulatory environment. High performance plastics rely more than any other plastics, on innovation and investment in R&D for their future growth. Innovation can be motivated by the need to reduce production costs, and make products more cost-competitive without compromising on product performance and quality. Innovation will also be key to penetrating newer application sectors like medical and industrial applications to expand beyond the conventional application areas.