Feb 10 2009
Tremendous opportunities are available to SFT (Short Fiber Thermoplastic) producers due to strong product demand from electrical/electronics and consumer applications in North America and Europe, and automotive applications in Asia. As a result, SFT market is likely to reach $5.4 billion in 2013 with a CAGR of 4.4% according to a new market study by Lucintel.
Lucintel, a leading global market research and business consulting firm with over 700 clients worldwide has analyzed the global SFT market and just published a comprehensive research report entitled “Global Short Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites 2008–2013: Trend, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis”.
According to Lucintel, Asia will drive the growth. Though Europe was the top continent in terms of total SFT consumption, Asia saw the highest growth rate due to the rapidly increasing demand in China and other regions. Asian market is becoming a leading exporter for many electrical/electronics goods and consumer goods products and thus SFT suppliers are moving to this region to serve their customers.
As per Lucintel, Electrical/Electronic market segment will see a growth of 4.7% (CAGR) in next five years, driven by increasing shipments of business machines and other electronic equipment. Transportation and consumer goods segments are expected to grow at 3.4% and 3.3% respectively in terms of volume shipments.
As per the findings, Global SFT industry is heavily influenced by macroeconomic trends due to high dependency on matured markets such as Western Europe and USA. Lucintel believes this leaves global SFT industry vulnerable to a macroeconomic downturn in these regions.
The study reveals that SFT materials are being increasingly used as alternatives to steel and aluminum, taking advantage of their weight savings and ability to design and mold complex shapes or assemblies with greater freedom. According to Lucintel, suppliers who focus on driving the growth through innovations in materials and technology will realize increased market share during next five years.
This research report contains market size estimates, a Porter’s five forces analysis for SFT opportunities in the market, trends and forecast for SFT applications, growth drivers and many other elements, all of which can help you make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace.