Published May 2024
This report discusses the two major categories of specialty films — engineering films (polyester, nylon and polycarbonate) and high-performance films (fluoropolymer, polyimide, polyethylene naphthalate, cyclo-olefin copolymer/polymer and developmental). Although they are consumed in much lower quantities than engineering films, high-performance films receive greater emphasis in this report because of their high prices and high value in use.
Developmental films include a variety of commercial and semicommercial films with low annual consumption volumes and high selling prices. The term developmental does not necessarily refer to product life-cycle position but reflects the films’ niche market status. Most of these films are performance driven and encounter relatively low levels of intermaterial competition.
The following pie chart shows consumption of specialty films in the United States, Europe, mainland China, Japan, the Indian Subcontinent and Other Asia (South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia) on a value basis:
In 2024, consumption of specialty films totaled about 7.2 million metric tons, representing sales of about $26.3 billion. Mainland China is the largest consuming market, followed by Other Asia, the US and Japan. Packaging and industrial (including automotive) are the largest end markets for engineering films and are equally represented across the different regions of the world. High-performance films are used in demanding aircraft/aerospace applications, as well as in the manufacture of consumer electronics (smartphones, displays, etc.). Demand from this latter market is concentrated in Asia, primarily in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, where the majority of consumer electronics are produced. Overall, the business of specialty films is expected to show moderate to good growth through 2029. Developments in consumer electronics, such as OLED, foldable displays and 5G technology, are expected to drive demand in Asia. The development of the automotive/aircraft industry will also have a significant impact on demand growth. Demand growth from the food packaging sector is somehow losing its momentum. New regulations on plastic recycling are already affecting consumption in the packaging sector in Europe (mainly for BOPA and BOPET films). Such regulations could be eventually extended to other countries.
The mainland Chinese industry is well established, especially for BOPET and nylon films. For polycarbonate, fluoropolymers and polyimide films, domestic demand has become almost independent from imports. The number of independent producers of specialty films has steadily increased during the last decade. In the rest of Asia, consumption of most specialty films is well represented. Overall demand for high-performance films has been growing fast in Asia since 2017, thanks to the ongoing technological advances in consumer electronic products such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, 4K and 8K TVs, wearable electronics, etc. This trend is expected to continue.
The United States and Europe represent smaller markets for high-performance films compared with Asia because of less-developed electronic industries. However, suppliers of engineering films, which are generally back-integrated to resin production, are well established both in Europe and the US. The engineering films industry in these regions is mature and is not expected to show strong growth. Particularly in Europe, new environmental regulations are limiting the use of certain engineering films in packaging applications. Future growth in these regions will greatly depend on developments in the automotive and aircraft industry, which also represent important end markets for specialty films.
For more detailed information, see the table of contents, shown below.
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S&P Global’s Specialty Chemicals Update Program –Specialty Films has been compiled using primary interviews with key suppliers and organizations, and leading representatives from the industry in combination with S&P Global’s unparalleled access to upstream and downstream market intelligence and expert insights into industry dynamics, trade, and economics.
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