Waterproof Growth: Ceresana Analyzes the Global Market for Silicones

Silicones are indispensable in many industries. These plastics are used for various products, from pacifiers to computer keyboards. Based on quartz sand via the production of silicon metal, chemical processes yield a great number of different silicone compounds. The most important ones are silicone elastomers, silicone oils and silicone resins. Application areas are construction, automotive, electrical and electronics, medical technology, cosmetics, textiles, and paper. The market research institute Ceresana analyzed this lucrative, rapidly growing market already for the second time: Global revenues generated with silicones rose by 4.2% per year since 2008; in 2016, about USD 15.5 billion were reached. „The silicone market will increase further by 4.0% per year until 2024“ forecasts Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana.

Growth Engine Automotive Industry

A decisive advantage for manufacturers of silicones is the variety of sales markets: Demand is distributed evenly among several large sectors. In the construction industry, silicones are mainly used as sealants, adhesives, and in coatings. The electronic industry applies silicones mainly to protect electronic components from extreme heat, moisture, salt, corrosion, and contamination. For example, computers, telephones, and LED lights contain silicones and the application areas are gradually expanded. Silicone demand in the automotive segment will presumably register similarly high growth rates in the upcoming eight years as in the electrical and electronics industry. Innovative projects such as hybrid and electric vehicles or autonomous vehicles will support this growth.

Sealing and Insulation

The majority of the global production of silicones is accounted for by silicone elastomers which are, for example, used in seals, electrical insulations or baking tins. A distinction is made between solid and liquid silicone rubber. Especially because of the large E&E industry, Asia-Pacific consumes a disproportionately large amount of silicone elastomers. In Western Europe and North America, revenues generated with elastomers are slightly higher than revenues generated with silicone oils. Silicone resins that are for example used for paints and varnishes have so far been accounting for a much smaller market share in all regions, but are likely to develop at sound growth rates in the future.

Asia-Pacific Continues to Be on the Growth Path

Given the massive increase of capacity in China, Asia-Pacific became the worldwide largest manufacturer of silicones in the past years. Ceresana expects the production in this region to continue to grow. Western Europe ranks second, followed by North America. Asia-Pacific accounted for more than half of the worldwide silicone output in 2016. China is the largest consumer of silicones worldwide. The gap to the second and third largest sales markets, Western Europe and North America, is likely to continue to widen in the future. Yet, established industrialized countries report a higher market value compared to silicone demand, as China tends to consume cheaper products instead of high-end specialty silicones.

The Study in Brief:

Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the global market for silicones – including forecasts up to 2024: Demand in tonnes, revenues per product type, total revenues, and production volume will be depicted, split by world regions. This chapter will also include a concise and precise summary of the most important facts regarding production and characteristics of silicones and individual product types.
Chapter 2 is a detailed analysis of total demand, revenues generated with silicones as well as market value in construction, E&E, automotive, health care and cosmetics as well as in other applications.
Chapter 3 offers a well-grounded analysis of various applications of silicones: Data on demand and sales development, split by the seven world regions Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa are given.
Chapter 4 provides profiles of the largest manufacturers of silicones, clearly arranged according to contact details, revenues, profit, product range, production sites, profile summary, product types, and applications. Extensive profiles of 49 manufacturers are given, e.g. of China National Bluestar (Group) Co., Ltd., Dow Corning Corporation, Evonik Industries AG, Momentive Performance Materials Holdings Inc., Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., and Wacker Chemie AG.

Further information: www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/plastics/silicones/

Ceresana is an internationally leading market research and consulting company for the industry. For 15 years, Ceresana has been supplying several thousand customers from 60 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 100 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts on the following markets: chemicals, plastics, industrial goods, and packaging.
Learn more about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com/en

Ceresana
Mainaustrasse 34
78464 Constance
Germany
Phone: +49 7531 94293 10
Fax: +49 7531 94293 27
Press Contact: Martin Ebner, m.ebner@ceresana.com

This release was published on openPR.