Thermoformed Plastics: Technologies and Global Markets

May 14, 2012

Wellesley, Mass. – According to a new technical market research report, THERMOFORMED PLASTICS: TECHNOLOGIES AND GLOBAL MARKETS (PLS047B) from BCC Research (www.bccresearch.com), the global market in volume for thermoformed plastics was estimated to be 6.8 billion pounds in 2011, and is projected to reach 7 billion pounds in 2012. By 2017, the market should reach nearly 8.6 billion pounds at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4%.

The thermoformed plastics market can be broken down into seven segments: packaging, appliances, industrial/commercial products, building products, consumer products, automotive, and aircraft.

The packaging segment, by far the largest, is expected to account for 4.9 billion pounds in 2012 and is expected to reach nearly 6 billion pounds in 2017, a CAGR of 4%.

Appliances make up the next-largest segment, projected to reach 797 million pounds in 2012 and 971 million pounds in 2017, yielding a CAGR of 4%.

The remaining five segments are projected to amount to less than 500 million pounds each in 2012, and together should total 1.3 billion pounds for the year, 18.5% of the total market.

Thermoformed plastics compete with injection-molded and blow-molded plastics along with nonplastic materials such as glass, paper and metals, and also have undergone several technical advances in the past few years.

A major driver for use of plastic sheet vs. injection molding is the size of the end product. As a general rule, “small” parts are more cost-effectively made by injection molding, while “larger” parts can be more efficiently made from sheet.

The types of products made from plastic sheet can be clear, colored, textured, corrugated, laminated, embossed, and so forth, but some fabricators prefer to use injection molding, not only for smaller parts but also for those parts in which end products are more intricate in shape.

Due to the size and diversity of the products used in plastic thermoforming, this report should be of interest to those involved in the development, manufacture, sales, and use of these materials, and will be of value to both business-oriented as well as technically oriented personnel.

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Thermoformed Plastics: Technologies and Global Markets( PLS047B )
Publish Date: May 2012    

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