Rubber Journal Asia Silicones
Jack of all trades in key sectors Our modern lifestyles desire the development
Global demand for silicones will increase from 1.7 million tonnes in 2012 to 2.4 million tonnes in 2018, which represents an average annual growth rate of nearly 6% from 2012-2018, says IHS.
of sophisticated and advanced applications. A special material like silicones commands versatility in the most cost effective way and meet
China – over the top with silicones eanwhile, a robust demand for silicones in China, combined with an improving economy, is driving market growth for these versatile polymers. But even so, aggressive capacity expansion of silicone production by China since 2009 is generating significant global excess capacity that is impacting profitability and growth and is driving less profitable producers or operations to rationalise their production. China is expected to build additional capacity, equivalent to nearly 20% of the 2012 global demand, through 2016. This excess capacity is causing prices to fall, according to the author of the IHS Chemical Economics Handbook: Silicones report, Aida Jebens. Now the largest producer of silicones in the world, China owns nearly 40% of global silicone production capacity. This feat was made possible by the start-up of several world-scale silicones manufacturing plants built since the mid-2000s, noted the IHS report. Some of these plants are joint ventures with foreign companies such as US-based Dow Corning and German firm Wacker Chemie. According to IHS, further capacity additions are scheduled to come on stream in China through 2016 that will see China’s share of the global capacity rise to 50%. In comparison, no significant capacity additions occurred in the other regions in the last five years and none is expected through 2016. With the increased domestic supply of silicones, China’s consumption of silicones has grown very rapidly in a short period of time — consumption rates of the product increased 25% a year from 2002-2012, enabling China to surpass the traditional demand powerhouses of the US and Western Europe. “As economies improve and consumers in developing countries like China expand their disposable incomes,” Jebens said, “the demand for personal care items and automobiles, which are produced using silicone components, increase. Likewise, improving economic conditions drive more construction, which is heavily dependent upon silicone-based materials.” China’s projected consumption growth for silicones will slow, although it will still grow at close to 10% a year, pulling the overall global growth rate close to 6% a year from 2012-2018, said Jebens. As the most dominant player in the market, any major shifts in either Chinese demand or production capacity will have significant implications for the global silicones market.
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the requirements, according to Angelica Buan, who also highlights China’s hold on the silicones global market.
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he world’s increasing wants and needs inevitably create new markets for new applications. Silicones, or polysiloxanes, are versatile polymers of silicone and oxygen with carbon, hydrogen, or occasionally, other elements. Silicones can be classified as fluids, elastomers or resins. The solidification process of all heat-activated cure thermosets, including silicone rubber, is caused by a chemical reaction called vulcanisation, or cure. Silicones possess physical and chemical properties that allow their use in a multitude of diverse applications from personal care items for our skin and hair to industrial applications such as automotive lubricants and polishes, as well as sealants and protective coatings for construction. Medical applications for silicones are also quite diverse: from artificial tears, to burn treatment and wound care, as coatings for tablets and capsules, for implants, and in the treatment of blood handling equipment. According to a new report by US research firm IHS, global demand growth for silicone fluids will grow about 4%, driven primarily by the cosmetics, toiletries, and medicinal/pharmaceutical applications. For silicone elastomers, which are critical to the growing construction and automotive industries, a stronger demand growth at 7% a year is expected, whereas for silicone resins, which are also tied to the construction industry, a more modest growth of 3% a year is expected. Silicone overmoulding on substrate materials provides many benefits to medical product designers
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