MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amid strong inter-polymer competition and unfavouralbe global economic situation, innovation will become a driver for polypropylene (PP) sales upturn in Europe till 2016, accoring to 'packaging europe' with reference to a recently published study by Applied Market Information Ltd (AMI Consulting), leading industry consultants.
Europe is the kernel of technical development of PP. European makers had done their best in shifting their PP production towards higher value applications.
The largest amount of growth will account for the production PP packaging, despite low consumers spendign and high competitions in the marekt. PP will lose its market share in favor of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in a segment roof caps and closures. Recycled PET will also displace the polypropylene from the market, for example, in a segment of the thin-walled packaging. Despite such an outlook and situation in the market, PP is gaining sales due to the introduction of new grades of resin offering high clarity and fast cycling. We remind that Borealis, has just launched the next generation transparent polypropylene (PP) grade Borpact SH950MO for packaging of deep freeze products. It is also an excellent choice for broader consumer packaging and housewares. SABIC has also developed a new brand of high clarity polypropylene SABIC PP Qrystal QR681K, as MRC reported earlier. This random copolymer is an economical, transparent and durable material for the production of bottles, small and medium size.
Automotive sector will largerly benifit from the fastest growth driven by penetration gains. PP producers are offering automotive companies solutions which substantially reduce their costs. The fast intake of long fibre PP should be mentioned in this connection. Thus, as MRC informed earlier, Renault is now launching the New Renault Clio with a thermoplastic lift-gate made with Styron's material solutions, which consits of three parts, namely, Styron's polypropylene compound, long glass fiber polypropylene resin (LGF-PP), PP impact copolymer blended with different components. PP help reduce the cost of cars and also provides excellent opportunities for light-weighting which is a key objective in car design.
The textile segment has suffered since the downturn in construction activity. Residential construction was first hit and is now showing some early signs of recovery, whereas civil construction was hit more recently. Generally PP non-wovens have prospered better than other PP textiles, according to the study.
MRC