Thermoplastic Vulcanizates Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Thermoplastic vulcanizates market size is forecast to reach $1.5 billion by 2026, after growing at a CAGR of 5% during 2021-2026. Thermoplastic vulcanizates are based on polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylic rubber, and ethylene-methacrylic acid possess excellent chemical resistance to acids, bases, and other aqueous media, and have good property retention owing to which it is widely utilized in various end-use industries such as automotive, building & construction, sports, and more. In addition, thermoplastic vulcanizates deliver superior performance as compared to other substitute products such as conventional thermosetting rubbers owing to their special microstructure. Furthermore, the rapid growth of the medical & healthcare industry has increased the demand for thermoplastic vulcanizates; thereby, fueling market growth. Furthermore, the flourishing automotive & transportation industry is also anticipated to drive the thermoplastic vulcanizates industry substantially during the forecast period.

The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has impacted the imports and exports of thermoplastic vulcanizates as governments of various countries have imposed export restrictions which are significantly disrupting the supplies. Besides, the pandemic of COVID-19 is having a huge impact on the automotive industry. Automotive production has been disruptively halted, contributing to major losses in the automotive industry as a whole. For instance, Toyota Motor Corporation reported a YoY sales decline of 26%, May’s unit sales were almost double that of April, which fell 56% YoY. Also According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China's passenger car sales in June fell 6.5% year on year to 1.68 million units. With the decrease in automotive production, the demand for automotive components has significantly fallen, which is having a major impact on the thermoplastic vulcanizates market.

The report: “Thermoplastic Vulcanizates Market – Forecast (2021-2026)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the thermoplastic vulcanizates Industry.

By Raw Materials: Polypropylene/Natural Rubber, Polypropylene/Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer, Polypropylene/Ethylene Octene Copolymer, EPDM/Polyolefin Blends, Butyl/Halobutyl/PP, and Others.

By Method: Injection Moulding, Extrusion Moulding, Blow Moulding, and Others.

By Application: Seals & Gaskets, Wire & Cable Sheath, Conveyor Belts, Fluid Handling, Tubing & Hoses, Drug Vial Closures, and Others.

By End-Use Industry: Medical & Lifescience, Automobile (Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV), and Others), Electrical & Electronics, Building & Construction (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Infrastructural), Sports & Leisure, and Others.

By Geography: North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (U.K, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Belgium, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Rest of APAC), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Rest of South America), Rest of the World (Middle East, and Africa).

The automotive industry held the largest share in the thermoplastic vulcanizates market in 2020 and is growing at a CAGR of 7% during 2021-2026, owing to increasing usage of thermoplastic vulcanizates based on polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylic rubber, and ethylene-methacrylic acid in the automotive & transportation industry in applications such as hose coverings, gaskets, seals, convoluted boots, vibration dampeners, air inlet duct covers, bushings, strut covers, ignition components, window seals, and more. The thermoplastic vulcanizates are extensively used in automotive components owing to their superior properties such as low cost, low weight, improved design flexibility, recyclable, and more. In addition, the lightweight thermoplastic vulcanization allows more fuel-efficient vehicles, as it is estimated that every 10 percent reduction in vehicle weight will result in a 5-7 percent reduction in fuel consumption. In addition, the thermoplastic vulcanizates exhibit high heat resistance as well as excellent oil resistance property suitable for automotive applications owing to which it is widely used in the automobile & transportations sector. Thus, it is projected that these extensive characteristics of thermoplastic vulcanizates will eventually propel the market during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific region held the largest share in the thermoplastic vulcanizates market in 2020 up to 42% and is growing at a CAGR of 6.3% during 2021-2026, owing to the increasing automotive manufacturing and population growth in the region. According to OICA, the production of passenger cars in Africa was 776,967 in 2018, which then rose to 787,287 in 2019, an increase of 1.3%. According to OICA, in 2019, the automotive production in Malaysia and Vietnam has increased up to 571632, and 250000, i.e., 1.2%, and 5.5%, higher than the previous year due to the rising per capita income of the individuals, which further led to the massive demand for thermoplastic vulcanizates in APAC region. In June 2017, the Clean Energy Ministerial launched the EV30@30 campaign to accelerate the worldwide use of electric vehicles. This has resulted in an increased number of electric vehicles and the production of electric vehicles is expected to increase further in the coming years. The Indian automotive industry has attracted US$ 22.35 billion worth of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the period April 2000 to June 2020 according to the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The increasing automation industry in the Asia Pacific is likely to influence the growth of the thermoplastic vulcanizates market in the APAC region.

The thermoplastic vulcanizates market growth is spurred by the rapid expansion of the healthcare industry mainly due to the growing population, urbanization, and increasing disposable income across the regions. The unique characteristics of thermoplastic vulcanizates based on polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylic rubber, and ethylene-methacrylic acid such as flexibility, resilience, extendability, sealability, and more have proven particularly well suited for medical & life science products such as gloves, catheters, syringe tips, drug vial closures, injection sites, tubing, hoses, and more. The growing investment in healthcare services is strengthening the healthcare industry. In 2018, the Australian Government announced to drive a new era of better health care in Australia it will invest $1.3 billion in the Health and Medical Industry Growth Plan. According to the European Commission, public expenditure on healthcare and long-term care is expected to increase by one-third by 2060 in Europe. Thus, the thermoplastic vulcanizates market will be flourished by the cumulative healthcare investments as with the increasing healthcare industries across the world demand for the medical products will also substantially increase, which acts as a driver for the market during the forecast period. 

Thermoplastic Vulcanizates based on polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylic rubber, and ethylene-methacrylic acid are being enormously used in electrical & electronics applications such as wire and cable insulation, plug, bushings, enclosures, connectors, and more. The total exports of electronic products grew in the United States by $7.9 billion (3 percent) to $268 billion in 2017, according to the United States International Trade Commission. According to the Department for International Trade, UK is the largest European market for high-end consumer electronics products and is worth £16 billion every year to the UK economy. The consumer electronics and appliances industry in India is expected to become the world's fifth-largest by 2025, according to Invest in India. India is projected to create an $800 billion to $1 trillion digital economy by 2025. And since thermoplastic vulcanizates are being enormously used in the electronic industry for manufacturing various electronic components such as wire and cable insulation, plug, bushings, enclosures, connectors, and more. Thus, the growing consumer electronics industry acts as a driver for the thermoplastic vulcanizates market.

Thermoplastic vulcanizates possess few drawbacks over thermoset rubbers. Thermoplastic vulcanization materials, for example, have decreased chemical, environmental, and thermal resistance compared to the thermoset rubbers. Further, they melt or become soft at high temperatures and lose their rubbery behaviour. However, addition of hexamethylenediamine carbamate (HMDC) extremely improves the property of thermoplastic vulcanizates due to the increasing of the crosslink density inside the rubber phase. In addition, thermoplastic vulcanizates have poor tensile and tear strength at low hardness, and the compound has poor abrasion and scratch resistance on comparing with thermoset rubbers. Thus, these drawbacks associated with thermoplastic vulcanizates over thermoset rubbers may hinder the thermoplastic vulcanizates market growth during the forecast period.

Technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the thermoplastic vulcanizates market. Major players in the thermoplastic vulcanizates market are JSR Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corp., RTP Company, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Celanese Corp., LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V., Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Ravago Manufacturing, and Kumho Polychem.