Specialty fibres to hit $9.2 billion
According to a new BCC Research report, ‘Specialty Fibres: Technologies and Global Markets‘, the global market for specialty fibres is expected to total $5.6 billion for 2007. This is expected to increase to more than $9.2 billion by 2012, a compound average annual growth rate of 10.5%.
The market is broken down into applications of carbon fibres, aramid fibres, partially oxidised polyacrylonitrile, polybenzimidazole and other specialty fibres. Of these, aramid fibres have the largest share of the market. Valued at $3.2 billion in 2007, this segment is expected to be worth $5.1 billion by 2012, up 9.8%. The second largest segment, carbon fibres, is valued at $1.4 billion in 2007 and will reach $2.5 billion by 2012, up 12.7%.
Markets for specialty fibres are primarily found in the developed nations of North America, Western Europe and Japan. Combined, these nations account for 76% of the global total. The emerging markets will present the most dynamic opportunities during the next five years, according to the report.
It states that composite and other products containing specialty fibres are a necessary material in any expanding economy as these fibres are vital for sporting goods, aircraft/aerospace, transportation, and machinery industries as well as for civil engineering projects.
