HDPE plastics on growth course

In 2014, a worldwide turnover of USD 61.8 billion was achieved with HDPE plastics and an average sales growth of 4.2 percent p.a. is expected so that around USD 85.8 billion US will be achieved until 2022.

According to market research institute Ceresana’s newest market report on HDPE the Asia-Pacific region is by far the largest consumer of this important kind of plastic. Within the last eight years, it has increased its world market share from 33 percent to 44 percent. Also, in the future, this region will grow the strongest, however not to the same extent as in the past. A significant application area is products for the construction industry, such as pipes and cables. In Asia-Pacific countries, extrusion dominates as processing method, due to the high film production and the strong construction industry. However, in North America and Western Europe HDPE is mainly processed with blow molding and injection molding.

Including swing plants, which can produce HDPE as well as LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene), the global production capacity for HDPE accounted for around 57.5 million tons in 2014. For the coming years, numerous HDPE factories are planned and although there are still a few smaller providers, already 57 percent of the global capacity account for the 15 largest companies (including joint ventures).

HDPE output in Western Europe is likely to fall due to the closure of production sites and an absence of capacity increases but in all other world regions, production will presumably increase with the largest growth expected in Asia, the Middle East and North America. Full details here: ceresana.com/en/market-studies/plastics/polyethylenehdpe/