Thursday, 9 May 2019

Leading players deploying multiple strategies to strengthen their position in engineered foam market



The global engineered foam market is projected to reach USD 122.30 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2016 to 2026. The growing demand for engineered foam from end-use industries has led to significant developments in the engineered foam market. Engineered foam has been increasingly used over general foams with enhanced features such as high strength & stiffness, uniform distribution of load, improved performance in extreme conditions, stability in corrosive environments, and others. Engineered foam is largely used in aerospace & defense, transportation, manufacturing & constructions, medical & healthcare, and other industries for insulations and cushioning applications.
Polyurethane is the major material type used for making engineered foams, followed by polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and others. Engineered foams are available in three forms, namely, flexible form, rigid form, and spray forms. With increasing demand for customized materials for cushioning and insulation applications by various end-use industries, the engineered foam market is expected to grow at a significant pace during the forecast period.
Key players operating in the engineered foam market include BASF SE (Germany), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Huntsman Corporation (U.S.), Bayer AG/Covestro (Germany), Seikisui Chemical Co., ltd (Japan), Trelleborg AB (Sweden), Inoac Corporation (Japan), Recticel NV/SA (Belgium), Vita (Lux III) S.A.R.L (U.K.), Armacell GmbH ( Luxembourg), Foamcraft, Inc. (U.S.), Foampartner group (Switzerland), Future Foam, Inc. (U.S.), FXI-Foam Innovations (U.S.), Rogers Corporation (U.S.), UFP Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), The Woodbridge Group (Canada), among others. Some of them are specialized foam manufacturers while others are raw material manufacturers with forward integration in some grades of foam manufacturing.
Substantial investments for expansions, agreements, and new product launches have been made in the past few years by key companies such as Bayer AG, The Dow Chemical Company, Armacell GmbH, BASF SE, and Huntsman Corporation. Among these, Bayer AG is one of the most active players in the market with regards to adoption of growth strategies. It has expanded its business in different regions to increase its global reach and also to cater to its customers with prominent product launches. Bayer AG has been focusing on new product launches and also is expanding its business in new geographies. This has helped the company expand its global footprint and tap the critically advantageous geographic regions that are witnessing rapid growth in the engineered foam market. BASF SE and The Dow Chemical Company have also outperformed other companies in the number of developments. The companies have actively been involved in new product launches through high R&D investments. In September 2013, BASF built the Polyurethane Systems House, in which polyurethane raw materials are blended to deliver customized products, including products for medical applications. Customized raw material would further help the company manufacture quality foam products.
Armacell GmbH is another company specialized in production of engineered foams and is focused on organic as well as inorganic growth strategies. The company has made several acquisitions in Europe and Americas region in the past few years to increase its market share in the subsequent areas. In October 2016, the company acquired 100% of the shares of PoliPex Ltda. (PoliPex), a leading Brazilian manufacturer of extruded polyethylene (PE) insulation foams. This will increase the product portfolio of Armacell GmbH into polyethylene foams. The company also made some new product launches that includes Armaflex Ultima, a blue elastomeric foam based flexible insulation material. The launch aims to gain fire class BL-s1, d0 (tubes) stages respectively for B-s2, d0 (sheets). This launch helped the company diversify product portfolio.
The global engineered foam market is a competitive market, with key players adopting various growth strategies to expand their shares in the global engineered foam market.

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