——Light vehicle sales rebounded to promote market development
HC Chemical Network News: According to a research report published by the famous American growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan in July 2014, the overall sales revenue of the window glass plastics market in Western Europe and North America in 2013 was about 490 million US dollars, estimated to 2018. In the year, sales revenue will reach 580 million US dollars, with a compound annual growth rate of about 3.5%. With the recovery of the automotive industry, major market segments such as PVB (polyvinyl butyral) and PC (polycarbonate) will see significant growth.
market Overview
Automobile glass is mainly divided into front windshield, side window glass, rear windshield and sunroof glass according to its location. The development direction of new automotive glass technology is to meet the requirements of consumers for safety, stability and comfort, which is also the focus of the industry's manufacturers.
Automotive glass plastic is a polymer used for laminated glass interlayer film or directly as a glass substitute in window manufacturing. It is mainly used in light commercial vehicles and light passenger vehicles. It is mainly divided into PVB (polyvinyl butyral) according to the material category. PC (polycarbonate) and other materials such as PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber) and EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer).
In the current automotive glass plastics market in Western Europe and North America, PVB dominates, accounting for 98.1% of total market sales in 2013; followed by PC materials, accounting for 1.9%. In addition to competition within the industry, traditional window materials such as tempered glass have also intensified market competition.
Main driver
skill improved
New automotive glass technology continues to advance with consumer demand. E.g:
• Sound insulation technology to block outside noise from entering the car
•Insulation technology, through the infrared reflective film layer in the glass interlayer to achieve thermal insulation
• Self-cleaning technology helps improve line of sight clarity
• Head-up display technology for safe driving and enhanced driving experience
Technological advances have enabled original equipment manufacturers to develop new products and use product differentiation to meet the different needs of consumers to seize market opportunities, thereby driving the use of polymers in window technology.
Environmental trends
In Western Europe and North America, the government has clearly imposed strict limits on the carbon dioxide emissions of vehicles. For car manufacturers, trying to reduce carbon emissions to meet standards is both a normative requirement and a duty.
A common way to reduce carbon emissions is to replace the original steel or glass fittings with plastic as much as possible to reduce vehicle weight, thereby minimizing fuel consumption and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Related studies have shown that in the selection of products based on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in automotive production, plastic materials such as PC have a better performance in product life cycle evaluation than glass.
Cost Control
Through the use of squeezable and moldable accessories, automotive manufacturers are able to integrate multiple functions into one and the same, reducing the total number of parts required for production. This not only gives the manufacturer more freedom in design and production, but also helps to enhance the final aesthetic of the product.
Component integration also reduces many additional processes in automotive production such as fixing and assembly, resulting in cost savings.
Safety requirements
The inherent properties of plastic make it strong, durable and impact resistant. For example, in the test, it is much more difficult to break into the interior of a plastic window such as laminated glass or PC material than to destroy the tempered glass window, and the latter will soon break.
Skylights with laminated glass or plastic materials provide higher security than tempered glass for the risk of rollover in vehicles.
In view of the fact that materials such as PVB and PC can fully meet the relevant specifications and manufacturers' requirements for vehicle safety and stability, plastic materials have been increasingly used in automobile production.
Main limiting factor
Windshield industry access restrictions
Current industry regulations require that automotive windshields be made of laminated glass, which means that for other products, about 22% of the automotive glass market has barriers to entry. And given the long-standing performance of laminated glass in terms of safety and stability, this specification is difficult to cancel in the short term.
PC makers are trying to lobby the government, hoping that the relevant specifications can be revised to allow other materials to enter the windshield market. The key issue is that the current specifications are outdated and do not take into account the advantages of plastic products today.
Competitiveness limit in the early stage of technological development
The potential market for plastic windows as a plastic product is still in the early stages of development. The development, testing and performance improvement of related new products require a lot of time and scientific investment, which delays the integration of plastic products into this profitable market.
Taking PC materials as an example, silicone hard coatings enhance the material's resistance to abrasion and erosion, but its high price may also isolate PCs from the market.
Industry internal competition restrictions
For window laminated glass, the intermediate film is mainly made of PVB material. However, it appears that a variety of other thermoplastics available on the market, such as TPU, EVA, etc., are equally suitable for such applications. These sandwich materials are currently mainly used in construction projects, but some of them are lower than PVB, so they also pose a potential threat to their market share.
As far as PC materials are concerned, PMMA is becoming a strong competitor. The latter has been applied to some bus side windows for use testing, showing a strong market competitiveness.
If the above products can meet the automotive window technology standards and enter the market in the future, then the market leading position of PVB will inevitably be affected, thus intensifying market competition.
Competitive landscape
At present, there are about a dozen domestic companies in the automotive glass plastics market in Western Europe and North America, and the market is highly competitive and highly integrated. In 2013, for example, in the PVB and PC product markets, the top three production producers accounted for approximately 95.2% of the market.
Solutia ranks first among the top three glass plastics manufacturers with a market share of 47.2%; Sekisui ranks second with a market share of 30.3%; the third place is the United States. DuPont (DuPont), which accounts for 17.7% of the market. Other vendors collectively accounted for 4.8% of the market.
Industry trends and forecasts
From 2013 to 2018, sales of the window glass plastics market in Western Europe and North America will increase from US$490 million to US$580 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.5%. In terms of sales volume, the Western European and North American markets will also maintain growth, from 73,000 tons in 2013 to about 89,000 tons in 2018.
PVB has become a commercial product and has a significant impact on raw material price fluctuations. Based on the absolute dominance of PVB materials in the market share, the current market impact is mainly due to the transformation of production technology in the automotive industry.
In the market of side window glass, rear windshield, skylight glass and taillight glass, although it is still dominated by tempered glass, as plastic products continue to penetrate the market, the growth space continues to exist.
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