The high-performance plastics are aheterogeneous group and, as such,not broadly defined. Synonyms in-
clude high-tech plastics and high-tem-perature plastics. Materials from thisgroup are always used when exceptionalproperty combinations are required, suchas extremely high chemical resistance,high radiation resistance, extremely lowfrictional values and similar qualifyingproperties together with high heat resist-ance and fire retardancy (Fig. 1).
In addition, certain high-performanceplastics have the strength normally onlyachieved by metals while others tend tobe ductile. Some high-performance plas-tics are semi-crystalline, others amorph-ous. The latter make it possible to pro-duce transparent mouldings. Long-termsterilisability and the high molecular ori-entation needed for many thin-wall ap-plications also form part of the propertyprofile of some materials in this group.
This material class includes both ther-moplastics and thermosets. The greatestmarket importance has been achieved by
high-performance thermoplastics – in-cluding fluoro- and sulphur-based poly-mers – along with high-performancepolyamides (HPPA), liquid crystallinepolymers (LCP) and aromatic polyke-tones (PEEK and PEK; Fig. 2). In recentyears, the range of individual high-performance plastics has been extendedby blending with other polymers andhigh-temperature-resistant elastomers.
Forecasts of Volume Trends
Statistical data on the consumption andforecast volume trends for high-perform-ance plastics are not available to the sameextent as for commodity and engineeringplastics. Market reports by leading con-sultants [1–9] are available for individualproducts and regions but up-to-date pri-mary survey data covering the entire port-
The Right Material for
Future Markets
High-performance Plastics. In 2003, 275 kt of high-
performance plastics to the value of 4.1 billion
US dollars were consumed worldwide.
Compared with engineering and com-
modity plastics, which are sold in far
larger quantities, the materials in this
group are characterised by exceptionally high
performance. They have very diverse applications,
ranging from the electrical/electronics sector and automotive
engineering to aerospace.
Properties
Fig. 1. The exceptional combination of properties offered by high-performance plastics justified theuse of these high-priced materialsTranslated from Kunststoffe 8/2004, pp. 26–31
folio are generally lacking. Market re-search on high-performance plasticsmust therefore be confined to evaluatingindividual publications by companies op-erating in the market and to interpretingglobal economic interrelationships. Thevolume trends cited here therefore onlyreflect the opinion of the author andshould be taken solely as guide figures,which are inevitably imprecise. The sameapplies to the predictions of regionalshares in total consumption.
With these caveats, the global con-sumption of high-performance plas-tics for 2003 is estimated at 275 kt
(2001: 250 kt), representing a value ofaround 4.1 billion USD (2001: 3.4 bil-lion USD).
This result is sobering and brings theoften far too optimistic sales forecasts ofthe last twenty years down to earth andback to the cold reality of cost con-straints, to which high-performanceplastics are also continually exposed. Thismaterial group has technical niche mar-kets that are highly promising but which,from the perspective of the overall con-sumption of thermoplastics, play a sta-tistically insignificant role in volumeterms (Fig. 3).
Material classes
Fig. 2. Survey of today’s commercially relevant high-performance thermoplastics
Consumption trend
Fig. 3. High-performance plastics are used in very technically interesting niche markets (source: VKE, AA
Statistik und Marktforschung)
Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PFA, FEP andPVDF) have the largest share of total con-sumption of high-performance plastics,followed by the sulphur-based polymers(PPS,PES,PSU and PPSU) with 30 % andthe high-performance polyamides with11 % (Fig. 4).
About half of all high-performanceplastics are consumed in the USA, near-ly 30 % in the Asia/Pacific region, includ-ing Japan, and only 20 % in Europe.Further breakdown of consumptionfigures for the Asia/Pacific region by thecountries of that region, particularlyChina, is not yet possible with the cur-rently available statistics. Despite theselimitations, an estimate of consumptionbroken down by products and regionsprovides an interesting picture that al-lows conclusions to be drawn about theelements driving the increasingly globalcompetition within this product class(Fig. 5). Present regional differences inthe consumption pattern of high-per-formance plastics will even out as glob-al competition becomes even more in-tense.
High Fixed Costs DeterminePrice Structure
The market for high-performance plas-tics is characterised by relatively smallproduction volumes and high invest-ment in process development, produc-tion plants and market launch. This re-sults in high fixed costs. The payback pe-riod that is so important in investmentdecisions is correspondingly long andcan be up to ten years. This – togetherwith the normally high monomer costsand expensive work-up required for theraw polymers – leads to high manufac-turing costs that must necessarily be re-flected in the achievable market prices.The prices for high-performance plas-tics are therefore significantly higherthan those for engineering polymers andvary widely with the product group, de-pending on the value of the achievableproblem solution (value-based pricing),the quantity purchased and the productcomposition.
No published price information can befound in the European market; only in theUSA are up-to-date sources known [10,11]. Fig. 6 was prepared on the basis ofthe price data available from thesesources, which can serve as a guide. Thereare only minor changes from a pricesurvey conducted in 2001 [12].
It only remains to say that, with theconstantly increasing pressure on prices
and margins, the market for high-performance plastics is no longer so at-tractive for many suppliers as was onceassumed.
Applications and Manufacturers
The applications for high-performanceplastics are more diverse than for engi-neering polymers (Fig. 7). In first placecomes the electrical/electronic sector(title picture), followed by automotiveengineering and industrial applicationssuch as machinery and plant construc-tion. The range of applications in theaerospace industry (Fig. 8) – for exam-ple for fibre-reinforced composites – isfar smaller. In addition, individual poly-mers have different important applica-tions in household appliances, medicaltechnology, pharmaceutical packaging,sports equipment and personal protec-tive clothing.
An analysis of global manufacturingstructures identifies at least 45 compa-nies that currently produce and markethigh-performance plastics (Table 1).Among these, suppliers of fluoroplasticspredominate. There is also a large num-ber of LCP and PPS manufacturers. Asimilar situation applies to HPPA – how-ever, here the heterogeneous composi-tion of this product class tends to per-mit differentiation between the suppli-ers.
Taking an overall view, however, itseems highly probable that in the next fewyears consolidation of both productranges and suppliers can be expected.
Critical Success Factors
All applications of high-performanceplastics are under constant pressure fromcost competition. The successful evolu-tion over many years of numerous appli-cation systems containing componentsmade from high-performance plastics of-ten reaches the point where, by loweringthe original requirement profile and car-rying out design modifications, cheaperplastics can be used. In addition, in someexisting applications the increasingly ap-parent intermaterial competition be-tween high-performance plastics fre-quently leads to the replacement of oneproduct by another from this class.
Suppliers of high-performance plasticsmust counter this trend by identifyingnew application segments and by in-formed, project-driven support for usersof components made from these materi-
Share of the global market
Regional consumption
Fig. 5. The regionaldifferences that stillexist in the consump-tion pattern of high-performance plasticstoday will be evenedout
Prices
Fig. 6. There are only minor changes from a price survey conducted in 2001 (data from the US market,as at April/May, 2004 [10, 11]
Fig. 4. Survey of theshare of individualhigh-performanceplastics in the globalmarket in 2003 (basedon powder and com-pounds, includingfillers and contents inblends; in the case ofPTFE, includingsolids contents indispersions; author’sestimates)
als in these new areas. Promising areas ofapplication might be those that were oncethe preserve of metals or ceramics or thathave only come into existence through theadvent of new technologies. Only in thisway can the long-term commercial suc-cess of high-performance plastics be en-sured.
A deeper analysis of the marketshows that global positioning of in-dividual products is still to come. Glob-al competition, even within this groupof products, will continue to intensify infuture.
Global Market Will Grow
The global market for high-performanceplastics will grow at an annual averagerate of 5 to 7 % in the years up to 2008.The largest volume increases will takeplace in the Asia/Pacific region andNorth America. The basic data for theseforecasts are estimates of the gross do-mestic product (GDP) of different coun-tries and regions and analyses of previ-ous years. From these, it may be con-cluded that the consumption trend forhigh-performance plastics is about 1 to3 % above the trend for GDP in a givenperiod.
This disproportionately high growthin the Asia/Pacific region is no surprise,bearing in mind that 60 % of the world’spopulation lives in this region. An arti-cle in the journal ‘Wirtschaftswoche’ re-cently expressed this in a succinct way:half of the world’s population can bereached from the Pearl River delta, i. e.from Hong Kong, in five hours’ flyingtime.
The rapid industrial and commercialdevelopment in China is driving thewhole region at the present time. The re-sult is that US, European and Japanesecompanies are investing preferentially inChina and in many cases are relocatingentire production units there. This fre-quently also means that companies taketheir injection moulds with them (toolshift) and the processing of high-per-formance plastics will be particularly af-fected. Products are then manufacturedin China under attractive cost conditionsto satisfy the steadily growing local de-mand and for export to the United States,Europe and Japan.
The demand for high-performanceplastics will therefore undergo a regionalshift. In future the Asia/Pacific region willundoubtedly become the global centre forthe application and development of high-performance plastics. China is now wellon the way to taking over the leading in-
dustrial role in the region. A further tento fifteen years down the line, providedthere is increasing improvement in socialand state structures, India – with itssimilarly high population – will thenfollow.
In passing, it is worth noting that bothChina (fluoro- and sulphur-based poly-
mers) and India (PES, PSU and PEEK) al-ready have their own local companies forthe production of high-performanceplastics. It is important not to underesti-mate the local research results so farachieved in this field,which are frequentlyprotected by material and manufacturingpatents.
Global Cost Competition
In the total market for thermoplastics,high-performance plastics occupy a nichesegment that is very small in volumeterms but extremely interesting from anapplication perspective. The exceptionalproperties of these materials will make itpossible in future to solve many techni-cally challenging problems. At the sametime, the continual pressure of global costcompetition will lead to far more pro-nounced consolidation of ranges andsuppliers. ■
Applications
Fig. 7. The applica-tions for high-per-
formance plastics aremore diverse than for
engineering polymers
Fig. 8. High-performance plastics are used in the aerospace industry, for example as fibre-reinforcedcomposites
11 Plastics Technology, New York, NY/USA(http://www.plasticstechnology.com/articles/200404rprice.html)
12 Kohlhepp, K.: Forced Cost Competition – GlobalPositioning still Awaits High Performance Plastics,Kunststoffe plast europe, 91 (2001) 8, pp. 16–18
THE AUTHOR
KLAUS KOHLHEPP, born in1943, is responsible forglobal market research and competition monitoring atTicona GmbH in Kelsterbach/Germany;[email protected].
