Blow Molded Plastics Market Size & Share, Market Research and Industry Forecast Report, 2019-2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
Industry Insights, Market Size, CAGR, High-Level Analysis: Blow Molded Plastics Market


The global blow molded plastics market size was estimated at USD 75.28 billion in 2018 and is projected augment at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2019-2025. Growing demand from key application markets including construction, automotive, and packaging, particularly in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), is expected to drive the market over the forecast period.

Government provision in the form of financial incentives and tax benefits, in countries such as China and India, to increase the FDI flow has helped in developing the market for plastics. These regions also offer low-cost labor, which further helps in reducing the overall manufacturing cost for producers. However, this shift has resulted in an overcapacity of various plastic products, thereby affecting their prices.

There has been a surge of capacity addition in high growth regions such as the Middle East and Asia Pacific over the last few years. These regions are creating a consistent demand for these types of plastics in addition to helping in reducing the overall manufacturing cost. Manufacturers are demanding machines that can deliver higher accuracy, greater cost efficiency, and maximum flexibility to offset the significantly rising cost of production from several demanding application sectors such as packaging, automobile, medical, electronics, and construction.

The innovation of new machines such as EBLOW (the newest EBLOW 37), which is an energy-efficient blow molding equipment developed specially for manufacturing canister, has helped the packaging industry. The main benefit of this technology is that it can be combined with the advantages of using the BA 34.2 hydraulic canister machine to offer a technological, economical, and attractive solution for producing articles between 10-35L.

Majority of the domestic market in Asia Pacific and the Middle East is unregulated and unorganized with several small and medium chain custom fabricators. The rapid expansion of producers has been posing a threat to large multinational corporations operating in the global market. They pose a challenge to the MNCs in terms of low-cost technology and price offering, thereby creating a gap in prices in the global market.

Volatility in the prices of key raw materials along with increasing concerns for environmental pollution regarding disposal of these products is anticipated to restrict industry growth over the forecast period. In order to overcome such challenges, the industry has shifted its focus toward developing blow molded plastics using bio based plastics. Major plastic manufacturers have been forming joint ventures and collaborating with biotechnology companies to synergize their functions for manufacturing bio based plastics.

Technology Insights of Blow Molded Plastics Market

Extrusion blow molded plastics was the largest technology segment which generated revenues of USD 27.6 billion in 2018. Extrusion process is comparatively cheaper than the other counterparts and hence majorly utilized in bulk manufacturing packaging products, bottles, and cans.

The mould cost of extrusion is lower than the injection blow mould due to lower pressure requirement. The machinery costs are also lower for this segment, which is an added advantage for the process. Molding of external threads are also easy and cheap with extrusion processes and the cost of labor employment reduces on using the technology. This is anticipated to remain the largest technology segment over the next eight years.

Extrusion process was closely followed by the injection blow molding technology segment, which is expected to grow moderately over the forecast period. Injection molding enables the companies to increase their production output in relatively shorter time period along with several flexible designs and wide range of materials that can be used. However, it also comes with few disadvantages such as high machinery cost and larger machinery creating space constraints.

Stretch blow molding technology is used for the production of high clarity and quality bottles and has limited use in the industry. The demand for compound blow molding technique is majorly driven by the automobile industry as this is used for manufacturing extremely high performance customized auto components. High requirement for lightweight specialized auto parts in both the OEM and aftermarkets is estimated to steer future demand.

Product Insights of Blow Molded Plastics Market

Polyethylene (PE) was the largest product segment. PE compounds are commonly used in packaging and electrical & electronics industries. Major packaging applications of PE compounds include different grades of bottles used in packaging a wide range of products such as food and chemical products.

Apart from the packaging industry, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has high performance application in medical devices and are also used in bulletproof vests. Over the recent past, numerous legislations and regulations have been passed to counter the negative effects of polyethylene-based compounds. These regulations specify grades and limitations of the material for various applications.

Polyethylene was followed by the PET segment which is expected to reach a total demand of USD 7.29 billion by 2025. PET has several uses in the packaging industry where application of PET for manufacturing of bottles for food & beverage products are expected to drive its demand over the forecast years.

Recent developments in PET bottle disposal and recycling have offset the limitations caused by regulations. Also, development of bio-based PET is expected to provide the much-needed scope for internal substitution, thereby driving its blow molding processes in various applications.

Application Insights of Blow Molded Plastics Market

In terms of revenue, packaging emerged as the major application sector in 2018 while accounting for 39.3% of the overall blow molded plastics market for the same time frame. Growing packaging industry, driven by high consumerism in emerging economies, shall drive demand for plastic compounds such as polyethylene and PET in future.

Significant usage of plastic materials such as polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE) and PET in manufacturing bottles, cases, cans for packaging mainly food & beverages in major economies is responsible for high market penetration in the sector.

Increasing plastics incorporation in automotive components and simultaneous rise in passenger car and heavy-duty vehicle production, particularly in Asia and Central & South America, is expected to drive growth over the forecast period. Standardization of emission norms and vehicular weight regulations shall aid in the development of automotive segment in the future.

Blow molded plastics demand in the automotive & transportation sector is estimated to observe the highest growth over the forecast period. The segment is estimated to reach a net worth USD 34.1 billion by 2025.

Plastics are increasingly becoming a vital part of medical devices as they offer better biocompatibility, optical clarity and economical ways of costing. However, a number of plastics are used in medical devices, polystyrene and thermoplastics are major plastic constituents with other polymers such as polyethylene being blended to achieve desirable properties.

Regional Insights of Blow Molded Plastics Market

Asia Pacific blow molded plastics market appeared to be the largest region with its volume share estimated at 37% in 2018. A favourable economic situation and the emergence of several domestic manufacturers with sound technological capabilities at lower costs as compared to the mature economies in Europe and North America have assisted in the development of the region over the past few years. China, has been the major manufacturing hub, has witnessed fabulous growth of the end-use sectors that consume these blow molded plastic compounds.

The European industry is pigeonholed by several restrictive issues, which include the sluggish industrial output in EU-27, sovereign debt crisis, and a matured demographics. The region's automotive manufacturing industry that has been dominant previously across Italy, Germany, France, the UK, and Spain is currently diversifying towards the developing eastern European region such as Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.

North American industry is characterized by high consumer awareness, technologically advanced manufacturing bases, and most importantly a versatile end-user landscape. The regional industry is estimated to account for 22.2% of the total revenue in 2018. The U.S. has been the frontrunner in the regional market with growth to be driven by automotive, packaging, and industrial machinery applications.

Market Share Insights of Blow Molded Plastics Market

The global blow molded plastics industry is extremely fragmented with the presence of both multinationals and small industry players. Some of the leading global resin manufacturers include The Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil, Sinopec, LyondellBasell, SABIC etc.

The major blow molded plastics manufacturers include Magna International Inc., IAC Group, Berry Global Inc., Pet All Manufacturing Inc., Inpress Plastics Ltd, Comar, LLC, Rutland Plastics Ltd, The Plastic Forming Company, Inc. and Agri – Industrial Plastics Company.

The top regional players cover extensive product portfolio catering to the diverse industry demands, which sets them apart of the other market players. Multifunctional quality, price and products compliance with the regulations are expected to be the future industry trends over the forecast period.

p2 Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue and volume growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, this market research report has segmented the global blow molded plastics market report on the basis of technology, product, application and region:

Technology Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Injection blow molding
  
Extrusion blow molding
  
Stretch blow molding
  
Compound blow molding

Product Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Polypropylene
  
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
  
Polyethylene
  
Polystyrene
  
PVC
  
PET
  
Others

Application Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Packaging
  
Consumables & Electronics
  
Automotive & Transport
  
Building & Construction
  
Medical
  
Others