August 30, 2007 -- The Infoshop announced that has added to its online catalog a report published by The Freedonia Group, entitled "Flame Retardants." According to the report, US demand for flame retardants will rise 3.0 percent per year to 1.2 billion pounds in 2011, valued at just over one billion dollars.
Increasingly stringent fire codes and flammability requirements, especially in building materials and consumer products, is forecasted to drive the gains. Additionally, an improved economic outlook in key applications such as wire and cable insulation and jacketing, electronics housings and aerospace products is expected to fuel demand for flame retardants. However, the report notes that gains will be limited by cost sensitivity in price-competitive markets such as motor vehicles and textiles, as well as environmental and health concerns over several flame retardant chemicals.
According to the report, among materials incorporating flame retardants, plastic resins (both thermoplastics and thermosets) accounted for over three-quarters of demand in 2006. The most rapid gains are expected to be seen for polyolefins and other thermoplastics such as engineering resins, which are increasingly used in flame retardant construction and electronics applications.
Slower growth is expected for PVC, polystyrene and epoxy resins, although gains are expected to improve considerably from the 2001- 2006 period. Demand for flame retardants in non-plastic materials is seen advancing at a subpar rate, restrained by weakness in the highly mature cellulose insulation market.
The report presents historical US demand data (1996, 2001, 2006) plus forecasts for 2011 and 2016 by material, product and market. The study also examines market environment factors, assesses company market shares, and profiles 28 US industry competitors.
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