Oct 13 2010
According to a new technical market research report, POLYMERIC FOAMS (PLS008G) from BCC Research, the U.S. market for polymeric foams will amount to an estimated 5.6 billion pounds in 2010, but is expected to increase to nearly 8.6 billion pounds in 2015, for a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5%.
The largest segment of the market, made up of polyurethanes, is expected to reach 4.4 billion pounds in 2015, after increasing at a CAGR of 2.6% from the estimated 3.9 billion pounds in 2010.
The segment made up of polystyrenes is projected to increase from an estimated 2.2 billion pounds in 2010 to 2.5 billion pounds in 2015, for a CAGR of 2.1%.
In the roughly 8 years since BCC Research's last study on the polymeric foams industry, significant changes have continued to occur in this major segment of the plastics production and processing industry. Products and markets change as technology and society change. Polymer foams find their primary applications in consumer products, such as cushioning for furniture and automobiles, thermal insulation for construction and packaging, and similar end uses that are driven by the business cycle.
Most of the markets for plastic foams are the same ones that existed a few years ago; however, there have also developed some newer markets, such as cross-linked polyolefin foam in leisure and sports goods and foamed PVC in house siding, windows/doors, and other construction shapes. A more recent development is work on foams made from biopolymers and biodegradable polymers, work done in concert with efforts to reduce the country's dependency on petroleum and natural gas, the feedstocks for the plastics that are currently foamed.
This report is intended to assist those involved in several different segments of the U.S. industrial and commercial business sectors, primarily those professionals whose main interest is in thermal insulation (construction, appliances, and the like), comfort cushioning (furniture, auto seats, and other uses), transportation (other automotive parts, such as protective cushioning and bumpers), as well as packaging applications.