Elastomers Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Elastomers Market size is forecast to reach $ 78,699.56 million by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 5.33% during 2020-2025. Elastomers, due to their extensive properties, such as high thermal stability, greater chemical resistance, high tensile strength, low shrinkage, and greater design flexibility, are used in a wide range of applications, in various industries including automotive, medical, consumer goods, industrial, and others. Rising demand from key application areas, combined with advances in processing technologies, is expected to fuel market growth during the forecast period. Elastomers are witnessing high demand from the automotive industry on account of rising need for high-performance and lightweight materials in vehicle production. Furthermore, the usage of recycled elastomers is likely to provide various opportunity for the elastomer market in the coming years. 

The report: “Elastomers Market– Forecast (2020-2025)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Elastomers Industry. 

By Elastomer Type: Thermoset Elastomers (Natural Rubber (NR) and Synthetic Rubber (SR)), Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPEs) (Styrenic Block Copolymers (SBC), Vulcanized Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPV), Copolyester Thermoplastic Elastomers (COPEs), Thermoplastic Polyamides (COPA-Copolyamides), Thermoplastic Olefins (TPE-O), Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers (TPU), Thermoplastic PVC Elastomers and others).

By End User: Automotive, Medical, Industrial, Construction, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Goods and others.

By Automotive Vehicle Type: Passenger Vehicle and Commercial Vehicle.

By Geography: North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and RoW.

The thermoset elastomer segment held the largest share in the elastomers market in 2019. Thermoset Elastomer offers high thermal stability, well-defined microphase-separated morphology, superior and tunable mechanical strength, and controlled hydrolytic degradability were systematically investigated, when compared to those of the triblock prepolymers. The hard domain crosslinked thermoset elastomers with tunable mechanical strength and degradation capability can be practical candidates for sustainable elastomers to satisfy distinct and high-performance applications. They are cost-effective materials and offer excellent aesthetic appearance and aid in improving the mechanical properties of materials by enhancing the structural integrity as well as heat and chemical resistance. 

The automotive segment held the largest share in the elastomer market in 2019 and is growing at a CAGR of 4.64% in terms of revenue from 2020 to 2025. The market for elastomers in the automotive industry is mainly driven by its excellent physical properties, such as durability, impact resistance, low weight, elasticity, softness, strength, superior optics, enhanced thermal resistance, thermal stability, adhesive properties and improved vehicle safety. Therefore, elastomer is used in wide range of applications in the automotive industry including door handles, automotive gaskets, rocker panels, dashboards, seating fabrics, vibration damping pads, rear windows, bumpers, gear knobs, interiors, wipers, body seals, exterior filler panels and tyre. Being a lightweight material, the elastomer decreases the weight of the vehicle, which in turn adds to the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. As a result, the demand for elastomers in the automotive industry to replace traditional metals is increasing.

Passenger vehicle segment held the largest share in the elastomer market in 2019. The global demand for passenger vehicles is seeing tremendous growth in the crossover category, as they provide a better value for money compared to sedans and SUVs. In 2018, around 70 million cars were sold in the top 54 world markets according to OICA. SUVs were popular worldwide and electric car sales grew by 75% according to JATO Dynamics Ltd. Moreover, the growth of passenger cars were supported by high sales and strong demand in India, Brazil, Russia and South East Asia offset stalling sales in Europe, China and the US.

Asia Pacific held the largest share in the Elastomers market in 2019, up to 61%, owning to rising automotive production in countries such as India, Malaysia and others, as more than half of elastomer is used in manufacturing tires. Government investment, liberalization policies coupled with private players focusing on technology enhancement are expected to fuel the demand. Furthermore, rising replacement of ethylene propylene diene monomer by TPE in construction equipment is likely to fuel the product market. Major automotive OEMs are shifting their production bases to these markets due to low operational costs and escalating demand for passenger cars. This factor is expected to drive the product demand over the coming years.

Elastomers are extensively used by the footwear industry in order to produce soles which can be molded as units or directly on the shoe. Polyurethanes are used in footwear to provide high abrasion-resistance which are suitable for hardwearing shoe soles, with excellent long-term mechanical properties. Elastomers find there use in a broad spectrum of footwear types from sports and trekking boots to business and fashion shoe soles, without hampering the design potential. Many major manufacturing companies are producing elastomers for the usage in footwear. For instance, BASF has been developing, producing, and selling custom-tailored polyurethane systems and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU) for making all types of soles. Footwear, including ski boots and soccer shoes, often contain a substantial fraction of TPE. Athletic shoe soles are an especially large application for TPEs. Athletic equipment, such as skis and golf ball covers, is another area where TPEs are used. According to World Footwear Yearbook, global footwear production and exports grew by 2.7% and 4.3% respectively in 2018, compared to the previous year. Footwear production worldwide reached 24.2 billion pairs in 2018, having grown by 2.7% over the previous year. In terms of its geographical distribution, production continues to be heavily concentrated in Asia, where almost 9 out of each 10 pairs of shoes are manufactured. Global footwear exports increased for the second consecutive year in 2018, setting a new all-time maximum of 142 billion dollars. Hence growing footwear industry is expected to drive the elastomers market as elastomers are widely used in the shoe soles.

Continued inputs by the government in terms of investments in polyurethane production and support by way of encouraging regulations is likely to contribute towards growth of the market. APAC is the established markets for elastomers, both in terms of production as well as consumption owing to the rapid industrialization in countries like China and India. Europe and America are emerging markets for elastomers. In the European region, Germany and France are the largest markets for elastomers. Germany is the largest manufacturing hub for machinery manufacturing; this is one of the reasons for high consumption of Elastomers in the country. In August 2018, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions launched a new custom elastomer, designed especially for HTHP wellhead tubing and hanger sealing applications. In April 2016, Lanxess entered into a joint venture with Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia) to form Arlanxeo for production of elastomer and synthetic rubber to increase its product portfolio. As a result of this joint venture, Lanxess Ag is a foremost supplier of synthetic rubber. The industry participants are undergoing extensive research & development activities to develop newer blends and effective processing methodologies to gain competitive strength. This is expected to drive the elastomers market 

Prices of crude oil and synthetic rubber have moved in tandem as synthetic rubber is produced from crude oil. However, it has severely affected the prices of natural rubber, being the substitute product of synthetic rubber. The price of synthetic rubber naturally firms up when the crude oil price rises. The impact of COVID-19 and the oil prices war are proving to be a two-pronged crisis for oil, gas, and chemicals companies. Oil prices are dropping due to failed agreements on production cuts and the need for chemicals and refined products is slowing from industrial slow-downs and travel restrictions in the wake of this global pandemic. Hence, fluctuations in crude oil is a major challenge pertaining to the growth of elastomers industry owing to the fact that petrochemicals (derivative of crude oil) act as a key raw material for synthetic rubber. Therefore, crude oil price movements do have a significant impact on synthetic rubber prices and also affect its consumption pattern.

Disposal of elastomers proves to be one of the major concerns for the environmental agencies, as the disposal emits a lot of hazardous compounds into the environment. Recycling options for elastomers are limited and are possible only in the case of uncured elastomers, while most of them are cured. Disposal of these materials can be done either through incineration or through landfills, either of which would create environmental hazard. Burning of elastomers results in emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, both of which are harmful for the environment.

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Elastomers Market. In 2019, the top five players in the elastomers market accounted for 11% of the total share. Major players in the Elastomers market are BASF SE, JSR Corporation, Zeon Corporation, Celanese Corporation, PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim, E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Company, Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd, Lanxess AG, among others.