MarketsandMarkets has published a new research report titled, ‘Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films Market - Global Trends & Forecasts (2011 - 2016).’
According to the report, the use of PVA films in water soluble applications is calculated to be 15.8 thousand metric tons in 2011. Similarly, the consumption of the films in polarizer production projected to be 225 million square meters for the same year.
The PVA film is made of polyvinyl alcohol resins and possesses water soluble property. It is used in several water soluble packaging applications, including dyes, water treatment chemicals, agrochemicals, detergents. In addition to packaging, the film’s water soluble property makes it ideal for manufacturing embroidery and laundry bags. Polarization is another unique feature of the material, which makes the film a key raw material for production of polarizer film that are used in optical filters, lenses, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and others.
The report reveals that North America is the major consumer of the PVA film for water soluble applications and a considerably large amount is utilized for detergent packaging. Asia-Pacific region is the prime exporter of the PVA films and 60 percent of the materials are distributed to other regions, such as South America, East Europe, West Europe and North America. MonoSol is a major supplier of the films and owns manufacturing plants in the UK and the U.S. The raw materials used for manufacturing the polarizer films are TAC (cellulose triacetate) film and PVA film. Japan-based companies, Nippon Gohsei and Kuraray, manufacture PVA film for application in LCD-based polarizer.