US Fluoropolymer Demand to Reach $2.3 Billion in 2019

US demand for fluoropolymers is forecast to increase 5.3 percent per year to $2.3 billion in 2019. While advances will result primarily from continued expansion in industrial output and construction activity returning to pre-recessionary levels, fluoropolymers will also benefit from strong growth in emerging markets such as photovoltaic modules and advanced batteries.  Faster growth will be restrained mainly by competition from other resins, market maturity, and slowing output in key markets such as motor vehicles.  While rising prices drove much of the growth in value terms during the 2009-2014 period, price increases through 2019 will be modest.  As a result, value gains will result primarily from growth in volume demand as well as a shift in the product mix toward higher value resins. These and other trends are presented in Fluoropolymers, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.

The construction and electrical and electronics markets will provide the fastest growth in fluoropolymer demand.  Electrical and electronics will overtake industrial processing as the leading market for fluoropolymers. According to analyst Joseph Kocian, “This shift is in large part due to rapidly increasing demand for photovoltaic modules as interest in alternative energy sources such as solar power swells.”  The construction market will exhibit the fastest growth of all markets, spurred by a rebound in the nonresidential construction segment where fluoropolymers find greatest use.

Demand for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) will grow at the fastest rates through 2019.  PVDF growth will benefit from a strong rebound in demand for architectural coatings, as well as increasing use in emerging markets such as advanced batteries for electric vehicles.  PVF demand will rise rapidly from a relatively small base, mainly fueled by stellar growth in demand for photovoltaic modules. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which accounts for the largest share of fluoropolymer demand primarily due to its use in the industrial processing market, will see good growth prospects in chemical processing and industrial filtration.