Adhesives Have Gained a Strong Position in More and More Production Processes

During their development, adhesives have gained a strong position in more and more production processes. There is hardly any product in our surroundings that does not contain at least one adhesive - be it the label on a beverage bottle, the protective film on an automobile or the profile on window frames.

Market researchers from Ceresana expect a revenue of almost US$50 billion for the global adhesives market in 2019. Especially the dynamic economic development in emerging countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil will stimulate further growth in demand for adhesives. The market research institution expects demand to rise by 2.9 percent per annum in the next eight years, meaning that growth will even accelerate when compared to the last eight years.

Dynamic growth rates cause demand in Asia-Pacific to grow rapidly, being the worldwide largest share with more than a third of total demand. Ceresana forecasts that Asian countries will gain further shares of the global adhesives market in the future at the expense of the already saturated markets in the developed countries of North America and Western Europe.

Emerging and developing countries already profit by increasing demand, especially in the construction and wood processing industries.

While it was once necessary to reinforce adhesive joint with other joining technology, nowadays high-performance adhesives can undertake structural tasks by themselves. "Even in applications that demand a high degree of integrity of the construction, for example in aircraft construction, adhesives reached a level that allow for a more widespread use," said Oliver Kutsch, Ceresana CEO.

The major product group is adhesives based on vinyls the report says. Almost 3.5 million tons of this type was demanded worldwide in 2011. An above-average growth of more than three percent per annum is expected for the demand for acrylic-based adhesives in the period from 2011 to 2019.

More than half of the adhesives demanded on a global level in 2011 were water-based and a continuing increase in demand over the next eight years is forecast, as more and more solvent-based adhesives are replaced by other technologies. Changes due to ecological aspects will have effects on both the production processes of adhesives as well as on further substitutions of various types of adhesives.

The production of adhesives based on renewable biological products will lead to an independence from oil and improve the CO2 balance. Additionally Western Europe and North America will continue to decrease the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) into the environment. The avoidance of solvent-based products will generate growth impulses, mainly in the areas of hotmelts and water-based adhesives.

As classic sales markets continue to decrease in importance, a continuing modernization is necessary. Numerous investments enrich the market for adhesives. According to the report the use of adhesives will develop on the various sales markets and the strongest demand so far comes from the packaging and construction industries. Following at a notable distance is the wood processing industry. Then follow the footwear and leather as well as transport industries and the production of consumer goods. Adhesives are used in a variety of industrial applications: in the electric and electronic industries; as special industrial adhesives; or in textiles, sports goods, toys and in medical applications. With an estimated growth of 3.4 percent per annum the construction sector will become the single largest sales market for adhesives in 2019 the report says.