Aerospace Plastics Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Aerospace Plastics Market Overview

Aerospace Plastics Market size is expected to be valued at US$30.4 billion by the end of the year 2027 and is set to grow at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period from 2022-2027. The growth in the aerospace industry is majorly fueling the demand for aerospace plastics and thermoplastic polymers such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyetheretherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Due to the surge in the growth of the aerospace industry, the importance of aerospace plastics for imparting lightweight materials in aircraft is essential. This is giving rise to the growth of aerospace plastics materials. Moreover, with the rising aviation fuel prices, it becomes even more necessary to use lightweight materials in aircrafts in order to reduce fuel consumption.

COVID-19 impact

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the aerospace plastics market was hugely affected owing to the various legal and economic restrictions laid by governments across the world. Due to the various restrictions laid down during the pandemic across the globe, the aerospace plastics market was hugely affected. Any movements including the movement of people and goods were banned fearing the spread of the corona virus. This hugely impacted aerospace plastics market, as the sales crashed down due to the exponential decrease in demand. The situation is however set to improve by the year ending 2021 and the aerospace plastics market is expected to grow.

Report Coverage

The report: “Aerospace Plastics Market – Forecast (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Aerospace Plastics Industry.

By Material Type: Polyetheretherketone, Thermosetting Polyimide, Polyamide-imide (PAI), Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Others.

By Type of Aircrafts: Commercial and Freight, Military, Rotorcraft, Space, Helicopters and Others 

By Application: Interiors (Tray Tables and Arm Rests, Avionics instrument panels, Air-return grills, Bearings and bushings, Fasteners, Housings, Valve seats and seals, Standoff insulators, Wire wrap insulation and Others) and Exteriors (Windows and Canopies, Aircraft Skin & parts, Composite tooling, Gears and gear spaces, Guides and stops, Slide rails, Splines, Wear pads and Others)

By Geography: North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe), APAC (China, Japan India, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Rest of South America) and RoW (Middle East and Africa).

Key Takeaways

• North American market held the largest share in the aerospace plastics market owing to increase in the prevalence of major players in the region is driving the demand for aerospace plastics market.
• The increasing demand for lightweight and efficient aircrafts is fueling the demand for aerospace plastics market.
• Improved qualities of aerospace plastics are driving the demand for aerospace plastics market.
• Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the aerospace plastics witnessed slow growth owing to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

Figure: North America Aerospace Plastics Market Revenue, 2022-2027 (US$ Billion)

Aerospace Plastics Market Segment Analysis – By Material Type

Polyetheretherketone segment held the largest share in the aerospace plastics market in the year 2021. Polyetheretherketone is widely used in various engineering plastics owing to its enhanced properties such as tensile strength, elongation, hardness and impact strength. Polyetheretherketone has a unique combination of mechanical properties and resistance to chemicals, wear & tear and extreme temperature resistance. Polyetheretherketone is dimensionally strong and has high stability under loads even during harsh weather. Polyetheretherketone is also highlighted, even if the tensile strength is high. This is driving the Polyetheretherketone segment of the aerospace plastics market.

Aerospace Plastics Market Segment Analysis – By Types of Aircrafts

Commercial and freight aircrafts held the largest share in the aerospace plastics market in the year 2021. The average production of commercial aircrafts is higher than any other types of aircrafts. Commercial aircrafts are produced on a larger scale as compared to military or any other type of air crafts. The demand for commercial aircrafts is higher than any other aircrafts, since there is an increasing demand for air travel. According to data from Boeing, the global commercial fleet will surpass 49,000 airplanes by 2040. China, Europe, North America, and other Asia-Pacific countries will each account for about 20% of new airplane deliveries, with the remaining 20% going from the other emerging markets. The global freighter fleet in 2040 will be 70% larger than the pre-pandemic fleet due to sustained demand from the increasing e-commerce and air freight's speed and reliability. This is driving the commercial and freight aircrafts segment in the aerospace plastics market.

Aerospace Plastics Market Segment Analysis – By Application

Exteriors segment held the largest share in the aerospace plastics market in the year 2021. Exteriors parts like windows and canopies, aircraft skin & parts, composite tooling, gears and gear spaces, guides and stops, slide rails, splines, wear pads and others make up the majority of the aircraft surface area than the interior parts. Exteriors of an aircraft is also a significant part of the structure, which requires it to be lightweight, strong, durable and resistant to environmental forces. Therefore, aerospace thermoplastics such as polyetheretherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and carbon fiber reinforced plastics are widely used in the production of exterior parts of an aircraft. This is majorly driving the exterior segments in the aerospace plastics market.

Aerospace Plastics Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

North America region held the largest share of 45% in the aerospace plastics market in the year 2021. The increase in the demand for aerospace plastics market in North America is fueled by the prevalence of major market players in the region. Moreover, North America has the highest demand for travel which is coupled with better per capita income, and this is driving the demand for aerospace travel which is, in turn is pushing the demand for aerospace plastics market. As per regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration, it is a mandate to reduce emissions from aircraft as it contributes majorly to global warming. This is leading to the increase in demand for lightweight materials which will help in reducing fuel consumption which is, in turn, driving the aerospace plastics market.  

Aerospace Plastics Market Drivers

• The increasing demand for lightweight and efficient aircraft is fueling the demand for aerospace plastics market.

The increasing demand for next-generation, lightweight and fuel-efficient aircraft is expected to be the major driver of the aerospace plastics market during the forecast period. According to The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE), there is a mandate for all aircraft OEMs to comply with certain rules with a vision to maintain a stable and clean environment by 2020. These rules include halving the time to market and reducing carbon-di-oxide emissions by 50% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 80% in the major developed economies. This will fuel the demand for aerospace plastics such as polyphenylene sulfide and carbon fiber reinforced plastics. 

• Improved qualities of aerospace plastics are driving the demand for aerospace plastics market.

The improved quality of aerospace plastics such as polyetheretherketone, polyphenylene sulfide and carbon fiber reinforced plastics is majorly driving the demand for aerospace plastics market. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics are lightweight, corrosion resistant, high strength with increased 'strength-to-weight ratio. Polyphenylene sulfide is solvent resistant, chemical resistant, and flame resistant. Polyetheretherketone has biocompatibility, fatigue resistance, wear resistance, tensile strength, compressive strength and ductility. This helps in building lighter aircrafts that have greater resistance to wind, wear and tear that has lesser chance of material disintegration and breakdown in high stress conditions. This is majorly driving the demand for aerospace plastics market.

Aerospace Plastics Market Challenges

• Volatile prices of raw materials and availability of other alternatives to NBR

Aerospace thermoplastics like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene are manufactured from butadiene, which is produced from the refining of crude oil using naphtha. Crude oil is a highly volatile commodity owing to its constantly changing supply-demand scenario. The volatility in the crude oil prices act as one of the biggest challenges to produce acrylonitrile butadiene styrene products. The price of crude oil decreased by 20.54% in the year 2020, increased by 34.46% in the year 2019, decreased by 24.84% in 2018 and increased by 12.47% in the year 2017 across the world. This depicts the volatile nature of crude oil and therefore is one of the biggest challenges to the aerospace plastics market. Whereas, substitutes like silicon elastomer and others are highly resistant to many extreme conditions and also cheaper, which is a major challenge to the aerospace plastics market. 

Aerospace Plastics Industry Outlook

Acquisitions and mergers, production expansion, facility expansion collaborations, partnerships, investments, are some of the key strategies adopted by players in the Aerospace Plastics Market. Major players in the Aerospace Plastics Market are

1. Tech-Tool Plastics Inc.
2. HITCO Carbon Composites Inc.
3. Premium Aerotec
4. Toray Carbon Fibers America Inc.
5. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited
6. Toho Tenax Company Limited
7. Ensinger GmbH
8. Hexcel Corporation
9. SGL Carbon SE
10. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
11. Hyosung Corporation
12. Kaman Corporation.

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