Aerospace Adhesives & Sealants Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Aerospace adhesives and sealants market size is forecast to reach $1.2 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 5.6% during 2020-2025, owing to the increasing demand of adhesives and sealants from the aerospace industries. Physical properties of adhesives and sealants, for example, high protection from warmth and substance responses add to its broad use in the aviation industry. Increasing passenger growth worldwide is likely to fuel the demand for adhesives and sealants products. According to Boeing, the global aerospace and defense market will be at $8.7 trillion over the next decade, up from $8.1 trillion in 2019. The growth in the aerospace industry is anticipated to drive the aerospace adhesives and sealants market substantially during the forecast period.

The report: “Aerospace Adhesives and Sealants Market – Forecast (2020-2025)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the aerospace adhesives and sealants Industry. 

By Type: Adhesives, and Sealants

By Resin Type: Epoxy, Polyurethane, Polyimide, and Others

By Technology: Solvent-Based, Water-Based, Powder Coating, and Others

By End-Use Industry: Commercial, Military, and General Aviation

By Geography: North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, RoW

The adhesives segment held the largest share in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market in 2019, owing to the wide usage of adhesives in the aerospace industries. A sealant is generally lower in strength compared to an adhesive, due to which the demand for adhesives is increasing from the aerospace industries.  The demand for adhesives is increasing due to its extensive properties such as resistance to cyclic fatigue, high peel strength, superior durability, exceptional compressive strength, high bond strength, increased toughness, and more. The extensive characteristics of adhesives are anticipated to boost the demand for aerospace adhesives during the forecast period.

The epoxy resin type segment held the largest share in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market in 2019, owing to its superior characteristics such as durability, scratch resistance, abrasion resistance, impact resistance, strong chemical resistance, and weatherability. The major advantage of epoxy adhesives is that they have high resistance to physical and chemical influences and in addition, they have high long-term stability because they only have a limited tendency to undergo creep. Depending on the type, they can withstand continuous temperatures from 200oF (95°C) up to 390oF (200°C). These extensive characteristics of epoxy resins are anticipated to boost the demand for epoxy resin-based aerospace adhesives and sealants during the forecast period.

The commercial aerospace sector held the largest share in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market in 2019 and is growing at a CAGR of 5.8%, owing to the increasing demand for silicone and polyurethane-based adhesives and sealants from the commercial aerospace manufacturers. With the increasing population and rising per capita income of the individuals, the demand for commercial aircraft is also increasing. In 2016, according to Boeing, China is estimated to require around 6,810 new commercial aircraft, valued at USD 1 trillion, over the next two decades. The passenger volumes grew from 114.1 million passengers in 2015 to 126.8 million passengers in 2016 and 137.6 million passengers in 2017 in Mexico. The Mexican commercial aviation and related demand for maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) have been driven by several factors such as Volaris and Interjet, the 2016 approval of the Delta-Aeromexico partnership, the Open Skies Agreement. Thus, the increasing commercial aerospace sector is anticipated to propel the aerospace adhesives and sealants industry in the commercial aerospace industries during the forecast period.

North-America region held the largest share in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market in 2019 up to 35%, owing to increased demand for aircraft in the region. Also, adhesives and sealants are widely used in aerospace parts such as pipes, electronic assemblies, sensors, panels, fixtures, tools, and more to reduce the weight and increase the strength of aerospace. According to International Trade Administration (ITA), in 2018 U.S. aerospace exports to Germany amounted to $8.92 billion, and the trade surplus was USD 6.36 billion, representing a 67 percent increase over 2016 (USD 3.8 billion). And in 2017, Canada was the United States’ fourth-largest foreign market for aerospace exports, valued at approximately US$9.2 billion, a ten percent increase over 2016. According to the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), Airline passenger flows reported in Mexico show an annual average growth of nearly 10 percent 2015–2017. In 2018, national and international passenger volume in Mexico grew 5.5 percent, from 90.5 million in 2017 to 97.3 million in 2018.  Thus, with the increasing aerospace sector in the region, the demand for adhesives and sealants will also substantially increase, which is anticipated to drive the aerospace adhesives and sealants market during the forecast period.

The aerospace industry is increasing in various regions such as Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific. According to the International Trade Administration (ITA), by the end of 2018, China had more than 59 airlines and 3,615 civil aircraft, an increase of 10% over 2017. According to China’s 13th Five Year Plan (2016-2020), by 2020, China will have more than 4,500 civil aircraft, and by 2018, the number of Chinese civil airports had grown to 235. According to the International Trade Administration (ITA), in 2018 the Indian government spent a total of $645 in the civil aviation sector. Also, according to Boeing India is expected to drive the demand for 2,300 aircrafts worth US$320 billion over the next 20 years. In 2018, the U.K. civil aerospace turnover was approximately $44.6 billion, and the sector had almost a 17% global market share. Also, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is targeting US$ 7 billion in investment in MROs and aviation-related industries in Thailand over the next 5 years.  And since adhesives and sealants are often used over mechanical fasteners like bolts or screws in the aerospace, the increasing aerospace industry acts as a driver for the aerospace adhesives and sealants market. 

Various governments are investing heavily in the defense sector of the country such as Brazil, Norway, and Thailand. According to the International Trade Administration (ITA), the Norwegian Government presented a core defense spending budget of USD 6.9 billion in 2019.  The Norwegian defense budget accounted for 1.62% of Norway’s GDP in 2018. Brazil's 2019 budget proposal for the defense sector is approximately $30 billion. Major Brazilian Defense Strategic projects such as KC-390 aircraft, Grippen AM-X aircraft modernization, and Space System Strategic program coordinated by the Brazilian Air Force is also increasing the demand of defense aerospace sector. In 2019, the Thai government allocated 1.29% of the country’s GDP to defense, which is approximately $7.3 billion.  An estimated 18.32% of the defense budget is assigned to the Royal Thai Air Force. Thus, with the increasing initiatives of the government to build an excellent defense infrastructural sector in their country, the demand for aerospace adhesives and sealants will also significantly rise, which acts as a driver for the aerospace adhesives and sealants market during the forecast period.

There are several drawbacks related to the adhesives and sealants. The pitfalls of adhesives are relative weakness in bonding large objects with a small bonding surface area, decreasing stability at high temperatures, and making it more difficult to separate objects during testing. Also, the adhesives are polymer-based materials and have an average resistance to temperature; only the silicone-based adhesives are more resistant to temperature adhesives. The polyurethane-based sealants have short shelf life due to hydroscopic (water absorption) tendencies, and generally have slower cure times. Thus, more complex handling and curing procedures are required for the polyurethane-based sealants. Thus, these drawbacks related to adhesives and sealants act as a restraint for the aerospace adhesives and sealants market during the forecast period. 

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the aerospace industries are facing issues such as delays in receiving adhesives and sealants from the manufacturers due to the restriction on import and export of materials. Also, the shipment orders are being heavily affected due to the non-availability of vessels and blank sailing. Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on the aviation industry. The production of aircraft has been disruptively stopped, contributing to a major loss in the total aerospace sectors. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), worldwide domestic flights have dropped by 70% and the loss of passenger revenue is reaching $314 billion. According to the Welsh Government services and information, globally (overall manufacturers) demand for production of short-haul sized aircraft is likely to drop by 15% (around 1,500 fewer aircraft out of 10,000) and by 30 - 65% for long haul sized craft, by the end of 2025, (around 600 - 1,300 fewer aircraft out of 2,000). With the decrease in aircraft production, the demand for adhesives and sealants for manufacturing various parts have significantly fallen, which is having a major impact on the aerospace adhesives and sealants market.

Technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market. In 2019, the market of aerospace adhesives and sealants has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for xx% of the share. Major players in the aerospace adhesives and sealants market are 3M, H.B. Fuller, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Huntsman International LLC., Hexcel Corporation, DowDuPont, PPG Industries Inc., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Arkema, and Cytec Solvay Group.