composites marktbericht 2012 - englisch
TRANSCRIPT
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Oktober 2012
Composites Market Report 2012
Market developments,trends, challengesand opportunities
The global CRP market - Bernhard Jahn / Doris Karl (CCeV)The European GRP market - Dr. Elmar Witten (AVK)
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Inhalt
The global CRP market 2012 ......................................................................................................... 3
General ........................................................................................................................................ 4
The global carbon fibre market ..................................................................................................... 4
The global carbon composites market ........................................................................................... 7
Carbon composites: Market data and developments in 2011 ......................................................... 7
Trends and outlook .................................................................................................................... 11
Final observations ...................................................................................................................... 15
The European ............................................................................................................................. 18
GRP Market................................................................................................................................ 18
The European GRP market in 2012 .............................................................................................. 19
Market observations .................................................................................................................. 20
GRP production in 2012: Overall development ............................................................................ 20
Trends in the development of procedures/components .............................................................. 22
Application industries at a glance ............................................................................................... 24GRP production in 2012: itemised by country .............................................................................. 25
Outlook ...................................................................................................................................... 29
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The global CRP
market 2012
The Authors
Bernhard Jahn is a project architect with Carbon Composites e.V. (CCeV).
Doris Karl is responsible for public relations at CCeV.
Carbon Composites e.V. (CCeV) is an association of companies and research institutes in
Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the entire value-added chain of high performance fibre
composite materials. It plays an important role in networking scientific research and busi-
nesses.
CCeV sees its role as a network of competence to promote the application of fibre compo-
sites with a focus on "marketable high performance fibre composite structures. The empha-
sis is on fibre composite structures with plastic matrix materials, familiar to the wider public in
many applications, as well as on fibre composite structures with ceramic matrices, which
have higher resistance to temperature and wear.
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General
For the first time, last year's CCeV market report considered the carbon fibre (CF)market. The section was welcomed by readers and will therefore become a fixture in
the CRP market report. This part of the market report draws on information and fig-
ures supplied by CCeV members [SGLG]; [TohoT]; [Toray], which together represent over 50% of
global CF production.
The global carbon fibre market
The CCeV had access to additional sources of information for the production of the
Market Report 2012 and is therefore able to refine last year's data and offer even
greater precision. According to the revised figures, demand for carbon fibre in 2010
(33,000 t) was already slightly higher than it was before the financial and economic
crisis. In 2011, demand totalled 37,000 t and therefore slightly exceeded the fore-
casts made in 2010. This positive trend has encouraged even more optimistic fore-
casts for 2012 and subsequent years than was the case at the beginning of 2011.Demand for 2012 is now estimated at around 42,000 t and even higher for 2014 at
approx. 73,000 t [MTP], [SGLG], [TEJL], [TohoT].
Fig. 1: Global demand for carbon fibre in tonnes
2008-2020 (*estimates)
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These highly optimistic forecasts reflect the declared intent of a number of compa-
nies to expand their production capacity:
Toray plans to increase its CF capacity at all three of its locations by one-third
(approx. 6,000 t) by the end of 2015.[KunststoffWeb GmbH, Bad Homburg] The Moscow Holding "Kompozit" and state atomic energy group RosAtom
want to build and operate a plant in the special economic zone of Alabuga
near Yelabuga with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes p.a. by the end of 2013.[plasticker] Taekwang Industrial Co Ltd (Ulsan/South Korea) started CF production in
March 2012. A total of 100 million have been invested in the project to make
the country less dependent on CF imports. [KunststoffWeb GmbH, Bad Homburg]
Hyosung aims to put its first commercial CF production plant into operation
(small tow
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Fig. 2: Carbon fibre capacities itemised by manufacturer (2011) in t
according to information provided by [MTP],[SGLG],[TohoT],[TEJL]
In 2011, theoretical total global capacity was around 90,000 t of carbon fibre. The
USA has the greatest installed CF capacity with around 29% of world production. Eu-
rope and Japan together account for approx. 50% and China approx. 8% of global
output. Analysts predict that Chinese production will expand considerably over the
coming years.
Fig. 3: CF capacity by region (2011)[MTP]
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The global carbon composites market
As the vast majority of carbon fibre produced (over 98%) is processed into composite
materials of all types, the carbon composite market develops at the same pace as
the CF market. The tonnage of CRP is naturally much higher, however, due to the
addition of the matrix component.
Carbon composites: Market data and developments in 2011
95% of the CF used in composite materials is processed into carbon fibre reinforced
plastic (CRP). The rest is used in composites with matrices based on carbon, ceram-
ic or metal. These materials are used in special applications, such as aircraft or vehi-
cle brake discs.
Fig. 4: Global demand for CRP in tonnes 2008-2020(*estimates)
A variety of different production processes are used in the manufacture of CRP mate-
rials/components. These are required for processing the various semi-finished fibre
products. Prepregs continue to dominate in the production of CRP parts. Around 54%
of the carbon fibre produced world-wide is used for manufacturing prepregs, of which
42% are based on unidirectional fabrics and 12% on woven fabrics. 5% of carbonfibre is used to make semi-finished products such as fabrics, braids etc., which are in
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turn used to make CRP parts via an infiltration process (e.g. RTM). The winding (ap-
prox. 15%) and pultrusion (approx. 8%) processes are also important techniques in
CRP production. Here the fibres are used in the form of yarns.
Fig. 5: Market shares of the manufacturing processes / Semi-finished products for CRP (2011)[MTP]
18% of the carbon fibre used globally for CRP in 2011 was in the form of short cut
(approx. of the quantity) or milled fibre (approx. of the quantity). 92% of the total
short cut and milled fibre was used to manufacture reinforced plastic compounds.
The remaining 8% was shared between applications in sheet moulding compound
(SMC), paper, the construction industry and the generation of conductivity in a variety
of products (e.g. heated car seats).
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Fig. 6: Use of short cut and milled fibre by application (2011) [MTP]
The majority of CF reinforced compounds are used in electronic devices such as lap-
tops, printers, office equipment etc. The principal application of milled fibre (approx.
90%) is in plastic compounds used in manufacturing chip carriers.
Fig. 7: Compound consumption by application (2011) [MTP]
The most important use (23%) of CRP is in rotor blades forwind turbines. 77% of the
carbon fibre used here is as UD prepreg, 20% as pultrusion material and approx. 3%
as fabric.
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In the aerospace sector (16%), aircraft construction dominates with approx. 11% of
CRP consumption, of which approx. 8% is used in civil aviation. The use of CRP ma-
terials in space applications accounts for 1% and thus plays only a minor role. The
remaining 4% in this sector are used in special applications such as engines, tools
etc.
In the area ofsport and leisure (also 16%), CRP is primarily used in golf clubs and
tennis racquets, bicycles and fishing rods (12%). The remaining 4% are used in
products such as boats and sticks/bats/clubs for other sports (such as hockey).
Fig. 8: Global CRP consumption by application (2011) [MTP]
The construction industry accounted for 9% of CRP demand in 2011. However, its
use in this sector is forecasted to grow 132% by 2020. [MTP]
In 2011, 44% of the CRP consumed in the construction sector was used for reinforc-
ing concrete. 37% was used in the restoration of bridges and tunnels, 10% in new
buildings and 9% in other construction works.
In the construction industry, 58% of the CRP used was consumed as reinforcing fab-
ric, 22% as pultrusion material (struts and strips), 19% as UD prepregs (UD tape)
and 1% as short cut fibre.
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Currently, the use of CRP in automobile construction is relatively low at 6%. Howev-
er, with BMW's entry into the market (Megacity Vehicle) and the advances made in
series production of CRP parts, growth rates are much higher here than in other sec-
tors.
In the area of pressure tanks (total of 6%), 3% of CRP is used for compressed natu-
ral gas (CNG) tanks. These are mostly used in automobiles. The remaining 3% is
used in other pressurised storage vessels.
Trends and outlook
Analysts see the CRP as solid and above all a market with high growth potential. The
consensus is for growth of at least 13% annually. This growth is due to a number of
factors:
In 2011, the order books of the aviation industry returned almost to the levels they
achieved before the economic crisis of 2008. Orders for new aircraft are forecast to
grow significantly over the next 20 years. Between 2011 and 2030, Airbus anticipates
a market volume of 27,800 [MTP/Airbus-GMF] and Boeing 33,500 new aircraft [MTP/Boeing-CMO].
In the civil aviation sector, passenger numbers are expected to grow by 5.1% per
year. If this continues until 2030, the fleets of the world's airlines will more than dou-
ble in size. Single aisle aircraft, such as the A320-Neo or Boeing 737-Max, would
account for 70% of the fleet. [MTP/Boeing-CMO] However, the proportion of CRP used in these
aircraft is much smaller than in the new Boeing 786 and Airbus A340 wide-body air-
craft.
In the aviation industry, the major influence on the CRP market is currently throughmarket developments in the wide-body aircraft of the Airbus A350 family and
Boeing's 787 range. Based on analyst estimates, it is anticipated that approx. 9,000 t
of carbon fibre will be used in wide-body aircraft in 2020.[MTP]
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Fig. 9: CF consumption in wide-body aircraft [MTP]
(* estimates)
The automobile industry is seen as one of the most important drivers for the CRP
market. Taking consumption of approx. 2,000 t of CRP in 2010 as their base, con-
servative analysts are forecasting annual growth of 15% for the sector. However,
from 2013, this could be much higher depending on the success of the electric vehi-
cles scheduled for launch.
Lightweight construction is not only paramount in the electric vehicle sector. It appliesequally to vehicles with conventional combustion engines. From 2015, European ve-
hicle manufacturers must reduce the average CO2 emissions of their fleets to under
95g/km. Fines averaging 4,000 per vehicle are being discussed for transgressions
of this limit.[Vogel Busines Media].
Lightweight construction is one of the ways that manufacturers can achieve compli-
ance with legally-binding environmental standards. Even if only a few percent of each
vehicle were manufactured from CRP, automobile construction would consume ap-
prox. 75% of carbon fibre production (given the right conditions) by 2030. However,
this would require a dramatic reduction in the manufacturing costs of CRP compo-
nents. The cost of CRP used in vehicles is currently approx. 70 /kg. This contrasts
starkly with 3 /kg for steel, approx. 6 /kg for high strength steel and 7 /kg for alu-
minium.
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Fig. 10: CF consumption in automobile construction (not incl. CNG tanks) [MTP]
(* estimates)
In the area of transport and traffic, constantly rising energy costs over recent years
have led to a significant number of users switching to lower cost fuels such as natural
gas. Since 2000, the market for vehicles running on natural gas has grown rapidly.
Around 11.4 million of the approx. 880 million vehicles on the world's roads are now
powered by natural gas. Annual growth of around 30% is forecast over the next ten
years.
Fig. 11: CNG vehicles / annual new registrations [MTP]
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In vehicles, the gas is stored at high pressure in special pressure tanks. Until now,
most of these have been made from steel. However, these substantially increase the
weight of the vehicle and therefore also fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per
kilometre, which need to be reduced.
Further increases in energy prices as well as projects such as "power-to-gas (con-
verting electricity from renewable sources into hydrogen or methane), in which re-
search institutes, industry and OEMs are working together closely, mean that CNG
(compressed natural gas) pressure tanks made from CRP will play an important role
in the CRP market.
In 2011, approx. 1,540 t of carbon fibre were processed in this area; by 2020 this fig-
ure is expected to rise to approx. 7,480 t. [MTP] This forecast does not take into account
current power-to-gas projects. If only a fraction of these projects should prove suc-
cessful, it is quite possible that the assumed quantity of carbon fibre used in this sec-
tor could double.
Fig. 12: CF demand for CNG pressure tanks [MTP]
(* estimates)
The wind turbine blade market, currently the most important volume market for CRP,
grew by around 23% in 2011. By 2015, annual carbon fibre demand in the wind tur-
bine industry is expected to be approx. 22,700 t and in 2020 around 54,270 t.[MTP]
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Ever larger wind turbines (up to 10 MW) and correspondingly longer rotor blades (up
to 100m) will play their part in achieving this growth forecast. According to a study by
the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), wind energy capacity will triple in
the 27 countries of the EU by 2020 - when approx. 581 TWh will be fed into the Eu-
ropean power grids compared with today's 182 TWh. By 2030, this figure is anticipat-
ed to rise to 1154 TWh.
Analysts expect stable growth in demand for short cut and milled carbon fibre of
around 7 to 8% over the coming years so that a total of approx. 14,000 to 16,000 t
could be required by 2020.[MTP] In the past, this market segment has also often been
served by small bobbin or yarn material, depending on the application, that has not
met the manufacturer's specifications. When yarn has been in short supply, it has
often been impossible to find enough material for this market. In some cases, this
has led to dissatisfaction among processors. The significant expansion of capacity
discussed at the beginning of this market report should go some way towards reliev-
ing this situation. In the future, recycled materials increasingly provided by the up-
and-coming recycling industry (e.g. CFK Valley Recycling GmbH-Deutschland, ELGCarbon Fibre Ltd/UK, etc.) could also be used more widely.
Final observations
In 2011, the global composites market was valued at 72 billion. Assum ing an annu-
al growth rate of around 6%, the market volume is estimated to reach 91 billion by
2015. A growth rate of 13%[JEC], or 17%[McKinsey] is expected for the CRP market, which
represents only a small part of the composites market.
There has long been a consensus in society that there must be a greater focus on
conservation of resources and raw materials. Energy use is one of the key considera-
tions here. The potential of high performance fibre composites in lightweight con-
struction will make an important contribution to increasing energy efficiency and cer-
tainly offers many opportunities whether in generating, consuming or storing energy.
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The durability and long life of CRP and its ability to be combined with traditional
lightweight materials will open the way to additional fields of application. In the area
of lightweight construction, the search is on for intelligent methods of combining and
integrating steel and CRP. This could lead to ecologically and economically viable
material combinations.
Urban mobility that conserves resources is one of the megatrends of the coming
years.[Vortrag Hoster, CCeV Automotive Forum 2012] Lightweight construction will be paramount for most
means of transport. Weight savings contribute to both increasing efficiency and re-
ducing costs. Here, too, the outstanding potential of CRP becomes immediately ap-
parent when it is weighed against all other materials. Optimally designed parts that
efficiently exploit the properties of CRP can be 70% lighter than steel and 30% lighter
than aluminium. [CCeV],[SGLG]
However, tangible ecological and economic benefits can only be achieved if light-
weight construction is used on a large scale. Mass production of CRP parts and the
associated automation of manufacturing processes are essential if this goal is to be
achieved. This, above all, is the key to the large scale use of CRP components in theautomobile industry. CRP with thermoplastic matrix components will probably play an
important role in this process. Partnerships/joint ventures between well-known auto-
mobile manufacturers (Audi, BMW, Daimler, Toyota and VW) and the CF industry
show that there is now both a recognition of the necessity to investigate the opportu-
nities of CRP materials in detail and the will to do so. [MTP]
Price-performance ratios will decide which materials and combinations of materials
will be adopted in the various applications. In the future, the ecological rather thanthe economic aspects should be the decisive factor. Objective life cycle analyses
(LCAs) for the various classes and combinations of materials and their consistent use
therefore present a further challenge for the future.
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Literature
[MTP] Materials Technology Publications: The Carbon Fiber Industry world-wide 2011-2020
[SGLG] SGL Group - Carbon Fibers & Composites-Ascent to Industrial Engi-neering Materials - Bayern Innovativ 05.05.2011
[TEJL] Teijin Limited: Flash Report FY09 - Financial Performance &FY10 Out-look - May 10, 2010
[TohoT] TohoTenax Europe GmbH: Kohlenstofffaserverstrkte Thermoplaste fr
Strukturbauteile in der Luftfahrtindustrie (Carbon fibre reinforced ther-moplastics for structural components in the aviation industry)- thermo-comp, 06.2011
[Toray] Toray International Europe GmbH: KunststoffWeb Druckdatum:27.03.2012 08:45:36 (Ref: 1047273518)
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The European
GRP Market
The Author
Dr. Elmar Witten is Managing Director of the AVK - Industrievereinigung VerstrkteKunststoffe e.V. (Federation of Reinforced Plastics). The AVK, as the German professionalassociation for fibre composite plastics/composites, represents the interests of producersand processors of reinforced plastics/composites on a national and a European level.
Its services include organisation of task forces, seminars and conferences as well as provid-
ing market relevant information (www.avk-tv.de).
The AVK is one of the four national pillars of the GKV GesamtverbandKunststoffverarbeitende Industrie and an international member of the European compositesconfederation EuCIA the European Composites Industry Association.
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The European GRP market in 2012Growth only in a few market segments
As in past years, the development of the market for glass fibre reinforced plastics
(GRP) mirrors the general economic growth of the countries included in this report
quite closely. This is hardly surprising when we consider the application industries to
which GRP parts are supplied. The majority of customers come from a very wide
range of sectors, which in total account for a considerable proportion of the industrial
production of the respective economies (e.g. automotive, construction).
It is important for the future that companies in the market for fibre reinforced plastics
and composites ask themselves a number of questions. How can the potential of this
relatively young sector of the plastics industry (compared to other materials) can be
publicised and developed even more effectively? How can production and demand in
the sector be developed faster than the overall economy? The currently hot topics ofseries production, substitution of other materials, innovation and precisely targeted
combinations of materials continue to offer enormous opportunities for this branch of
industry.
Total European GRP production generally fell slightly compared to last year. To eval-
uate this development in detail, as in previous years, it is essential to take a closer
look at the individual manufacturing processes, countries and applications. There isno other way of clearly describing the development of this extremely heterogeneous
market. As a specialist segment of the plastics industry, the GRP industry essentially
tracked the general development of the plastics processing industry as it has done in
previous years.
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However, a realistic view of the current possibilities is slowly gaining the upper hand
even in media reports. There are still a substantial number of challenges to be
mastered in this area: due to its small market share, even above average growth of
CRP would only have a relatively small effect on the total volume of composite pro-
duction in the medium term. The question of whether CRP will become a widely used
material in high volume automobile production is still an open one and the answer
currently still depends on many factors. Public interest and debate about the subject
is certainly helpful in generating a highly dynamic market and a discussion of the top-
ic of composite materials in general is also advantageous. It contributes to raising
awareness of these relatively young materials and spreading the knowledge of the
various potential areas of application among executives in the relevant branches of
industry.
Fig. 1: GRP production volumes in Europe itemised by procedures/components
(kT = kilotonnes, 2012* = estimate)
2012* 2011 2010 2009 2008
kT kT kT kT kTSMC 188 198 198 160 210
BMC 70 69 69 56 70
SMC/BMC 258 267 267 216 280
Hand lay-up 145 160 160 123 202
Spray-up 90 98 92 74 103
Open mould 235 258 252 197 305
RTM 120 120 113 94 106
Sheets 78 77 72 56 69
Pultrusion 47 51 47 39 46
Continuous processing 125 128 119 95 115Filament winding 80 86 82 69 79
Centrifugal casting 67 69 66 55 62
Pipes and Tanks 147 155 148 124 141
GMT/LFT 108 105 100 75 95
Others 17 16 16 14 16
Sum: 1,010 1,049 1,015 815 1,058
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Trends in the development of procedures/components
Falling demand in vehicle production throughout Europe is also reflected in the trend
for thermoset SMC (sheet moulding compound) parts. The relatively stronger growth
noted last year in automobile applications is now once again switching in favour of
the electro/electronics (E & E) sector, which is currently growing at least slightly in
European countries. This is one reason why BMC (bulk moulding compound) produc-
tion, which is primarily used in this sector, is growing slightly while SMC components
have experienced a fall of around 5%. With a history stretching back over 50 years,
the importance of the industrial production of SMC and BMC in the composites sector
should, however, not be underestimated: after all, production in this sector accounts
for nearly one quarter of the total European GRP market. It is also worth mentioning
that these products are often those, which are ready for series or similar scale pro-
duction. Mass production of composite parts, the subject of so much discussion,
therefore already exists.
As was the case last year, demand for parts produced using so-called "open pro-
cesses" (hand lay-up, spray-up) has generally continued to develop less well than
other markets. After stagnating last year, these manual processes suffered the
greatest relative fall (9%) of any sector in the GRP market in 2012.
This particularly affects the many small companies that make individual or small
numbers of parts with very little automation. As a result, the expansion of offshore
wind farms, for example, is currently only making slow progress primarily due to rea-
sons of economic feasibility, financing and technological problems. Production of the
wind turbine rotor blades, still predominantly made from GRP, continues to be out-
sourced to other countries. The material properties demanded by ever larger rotor
blades also mean that GRP is in some cases being substituted by CRP, for which
this is the primary application. The maritime sector, in which the use of open pro-
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cesses is widespread, is also currently suffering steep falls in demand in Southern
European countries.
Another factor at work here is that the industrialisation and automation of GRP pro-
duction continues to advance. This may also lead to further reductions in demand for
open processes.
The market for RTM (resin transfer moulding) and parts manufactured using this pro-
cess has fared comparatively well this year with zero growth. Substitution of open
processes and increased use in automobile production promise a bright future with
strong growth potential. Moreover, improvements and adaptations of the processes
subsumed under this category are the focus of a large number of research projects to
develop improved, faster production cycles, incl. in high volume automobile produc-
tion.
Continuous processes for manufacturing GRP panels are one of the few areas to
have grown a little over the past year: a few major processing companies produce
large volumes very efficiently here with a relatively high degree of automation.
The market for GRP pultrusion profiles, in contrast, experienced a fall of 8% with
production volumes continuing to be relatively low. One reason for this is the signifi-
cant idle capacity in the construction sector in many European countries. Construc-
tion and infrastructure are among the main areas of application for these products
along with isolated applications in the maritime and sport & leisure sectors.
There is also a clear decline in the manufacture of pipe and tank components using
the centrifugal casting and filament winding processes. Not even strong business in
the area of sewer renovation using so-called pipe liners can compensate for the lack
of major infrastructure projects especially in Southern Europe. The production of
pipes is still lagging far behind the trend in other regions of the world (especially
South-Eastern Europe and Western Asia).
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With growth of 6%, glass mat reinforced thermoplastics (GMT) and long fibre rein-
forced thermoplastics (LFT) are the only processes with a non-thermoset matrix con-
sidered in this report to be clearly ahead of the trend in 2012. Obviously the sector
has been able to open up new areas of application and substitute alternative materi-
als despite falling demand in the automobile industry throughout Europe.
Application industries at a glance
Fig. 2 provides an overview of the proportions of GRP parts used by individual appli-
cation industries. These have remained relatively constant over time. The transport
and construction sectors each consume one third of total production volume. Other
sales markets include the electro/electronics sector (E & E) and the sport & leisure
segment.
Alongside parts for automobile and commercial vehicle construction, the transport
sector also comprises components for railway vehicles, boat building and aviation.
In the construction sector, important applications include pipes and infrastructure pro-
jects as well as industrial plant construction and the production of rotor blades for
wind turbines.
The sport & leisure sector is the only GRP segment in which products are primarily
manufactured for the consumer market. This business-to-consumer market offers
considerable potential for the development of new products due to the high ac-ceptance of other composites and even GRP among consumers.
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34%
14%35%
15% 2%
Transport Electro / Electronics
Construction Sport & Leisure
Others
Fig. 2: GRP production in Europe for different application industries (year: 2012)
GRP production in 2012: itemised by country
The development of the GRP markets in the various individual European countries
(see Fig. 3) depends heavily on a number of factors, such as the major application
industries operating in those countries and their respective general economic condi-
tions.
Continued falling car sales expected in Spain, Italy and France will exacerbate the
weakness in these traditional fortresses of the automobile sector and have a direct
impact on GRP subcontractor companies. The latest forecasts suggest the market
will only reach its nadir in 2013 with the lowest car sales in Western Europe.
This downward trend contrasts with global growth, which is benefiting particularly
from a catch-up effect in America and Asia as well as the BRIC countries. Strong ex-
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inforcing fibres and thermoplastic materials). The remainder is essentially distributed
between North America and Asia, with the latter having the larger share.
European countries will have opportunities to thrive if they can exploit their own spe-
cific strengths and gain advantages through innovation, quality and highly trained
employees. It is to be expected that the production of standard products with a mini-
mum standard of quality that can be achieved quickly by all suppliers and competition
primarily through price (= commoditisation) will continue to be relocated to non-
European locations.
For the first time, this report also considers Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.
According to information provided by the Turkish Composites Association (TCMA),
this market has now reached a size of nearly 200 kT. It is therefore larger than any
other European market considered here and is enjoying above average growth - with
Turkish production expected to expand by approx. 15 kT in 2012. The main areas of
application and primary manufacturing methods, however, differ significantly from
those in other European countries: nearly three quarters of the total volume is used in
the construction sector and of that again nearly three quarters in the construction of
pipes and tanks. Transport is the second largest sector with one quarter of products
being manufactured for marine applications. Consequently, the centrifugal casting
and filament winding processes account for almost one half and hand lay-up and
RTM processes for approx. one third of production. The applications in Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and Iran and Middle Eastern countries in general are similar. The construction
of waste water treatment facilities and sewers, water tanks, offshore oil and gas facili-
ties and other completely different construction applications (e.g. sanitation, roofs,
masts, footpaths and plant construction) offer potential for the future.
Integrated production technology is becoming an absolute must for high wage Euro-
pean countries and material and energy efficiency are assuming ever greater im-
portance. The interaction between business and research - and also investment in
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08. Oktober 2011 Seite 28/29 Dr. Elmar Witten
academic science - is a key factor in the success and innovative power of the GRP
industry.
New developments offer great potential for gaining a competitive advantage, e.g. in
lightweight construction solutions and particularly in the area of multi-material sys-
tems (e.g. composites and metals). Many European countries (especially Germany)
and companies are well-placed international leaders in the above areas with good
chances of defending their positions in the global market.
Fig. 3: GRP production volumes in Europe - and selected Middle Eastern countries - broken down bycountry / group of countries
2012* 2011 2010 2009 2008
kT kT kT kT kT
UK / Ireland 134 126 130 106 123Belgium / Netherlands / Lux-embourg 43 42 40 31 38Finland / Norway / Sweden /Denmark 44 52 50 52 69
Spain / Portugal 160 200 217 188 236
Italy 152 165 154 122 183
France 117 122 116 87 115
Germany 182 172 161 118 145
Austria / Switzerland 17 17 16 13 13
Eastern Europe** 161 153 131 98 136
Sum: 1,010 1,049 1,015 815 1,058
Turkey***195 180
Saudi Arabia****250
Egypt****60
Iran****75
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(kT = kilotonnes / 2012* = estimated / Eastern Europe** = Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Roma-
nia, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia / Turkey*** = Source: TCMA,approx. 10% (short fibre reinforced plastics) has been deducted from the total composites volume of200 kT in 2011 to aid comparison with the other countries / Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran**** = Source:TCMA)
Outlook
Overall, the composites market is highly dynamic, especially in the area of GRP
manufacturing, which is dominated by small and medium sized companies. These
companies are seeking out new areas of application for their products, diversifying
their ranges and even the smallest companies are increasingly internationalising both
the purchasing and sales sides of their businesses. The winners of the future will
firstly be those companies, which manage to gain an advantage in the production of
commodity goods through continued industrialisation of processes and secondly
those that open up new applications (including combinations with other materials) or
serve niche markets.If the potential of automation can be tapped (not just for commodities), the volume of
composite production as a whole will enjoy even higher rates of growth than in recent
years.
On the marketing side, an analysis of the sustainability of various materials could re-
veal many advantages for composites compared to "traditional" materials. A consid-
eration of the ecological, economic and social effects of production over the complete
life cycle of the product suggests that the ecological advantages of GRP may well bethe driving force that leads to the substitution of other materials.
It is clear that companies are currently using every opportunity to exchange infor-
mation and experience with other participants in the market, and even in other sec-
tors, as well as giving their employees the best possible training. Advantages in train-
ing and expertise will be critical factors in the success of innovative and competitive
composite materials and these must be improved together with every company along
the value chain!