Online research website, Research and Markets, has released a report titled, “Natural Fibre Composites Market Trend 2011-2016: Trend, Forecast and Opportunity Analysis”.
The report analyses the five year growth trends of the market and also looks at the present and future trends and opportunities in the market.
With growing environmental awareness, many companies have shifted their focus to using materials that weigh less, are durable and efficient and that have high mechanical properties. In such a scenario, natural fibres are creating great demand as they come at a very low cost, are neutral to CO2, are recyclable, biodegradable, can be separated easily, have low density and contain desirable physical properties. These features give natural fibres a great advantage over traditional fibres such as carbon or glass. Companies from the automotive industry were one of the first companies to use natural fibre- based thermoplastics and thermosets for trunk liners, package trays, door panels and seat backs for certain automobile models. Many leading automobile manufacturers such as Audi, GM and Volvo now use natural fibre-based headliners, seat backs, rear deck trays and side and back walls.
According to the report, the natural fibre composite materials market is likely to reach $531.3 m by 2016 achieving a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11%. The report also uses Porter’s Five Forces Model to analyse the industry and also talks about factors that drive or hinder the market, advantages and disadvantages of natural fibres and the various applications where natural fibre composite materials can be used.