ABS Market Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

Global Market Outlook on ABS

• The global market is expected to grow at 2.4  percent CAGR through 2017–2022
• The automobile market growing at approx. 5-6 percent, printed wire boards in the electronics sector and smart consumer appliances growing at approx. 7 percent are the major growth drivers
• The innovative fields of the auto electronic market growing at approx. 12–14 percent could be the potential platform for ABS applications
• China is expected to remain as the key driver for the ABS market, in terms of both consumption and production

Demand Market Outlook

The automobile and appliances markets are expected to drive the demand for ABS in NA and Europe, while in Asia, the electronics segment would be the key driver, followed by appliances and automobiles segment

Industry Best Practice

• Fixed margin-based pricing is generally preferred by buyers who procure lesser volume. The manufacturer tries to maintain his desired profit margin, within a range of 15–20 percent. When the prices of the raw materials change, the manufacturer looks at the overall input cost incurred in manufacturing the ABS resin, and applies his margin, subject to the market condition.
• Index-based pricing: Some of the suppliers, peg the price of their ABS resin to the raw material styrene prices, as it accounts for 50 percent for the cost contribution. Any change in the styrene prices is subsequently incorporated in the ABS resin prices during the review period

Global Market Size: ABS

• The growth in automobiles, appliances, and electronics sector is expected to drive the ABS market to approx. $23 billion by 2021
• The growing disposable income of the middle-class population in Asia is expected to drive the ABS consumption in the appliances, electronics, and automobile industries
• The global ABS market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9 percent from 2017 to 2021, with Asia as the center of demand growth
• The trend of light-weight vehicles expected uptrend in demand in China, growing in light of the new regulations, in order to ban the import of scrap plastics, such as ABS and SAN, growth of consumer electronics are some of the potential platform for ABS growth, as 2018 progresses
• China is expected to remain as the key driver for the ABS market, in terms of consumption and production

Global Capacity–Demand Analysis

• Asia, being the largest demand center, is expected to drive the ABS market from appliance and electronic downstream sectors
• The innovative fields of the auto electronic market growing at approx. 12–14 percent could be the potential platform for ABS application

Market Outlook

• ABS capacity in North America remained at 0.94 MMT as of 2016, occupying around 8 percent of the global capacity share
• Demand is expected to grow at 1.6 percent until 2022, supported by the expected growth in automobile and appliance markets
• Automobile sector: 5 percent growth, driven by replacement of the painted heavy parts by light-weight ABS resins in dashboards, wheel casings, etc.
• Home appliance market growth: Domestic, kitchen, and home comfort appliances at 7 percent and smart consumer appliances at approx. 6 percent
• Electronic component market from wiring boards, enclosures, etc., is expected to grow by approx. 6 percent
• Capacity additions are expected to come up more in Asia (from Trinseo and CNOOC & LG Petrochemical), while North America and the EU are likely to portray fewer additions

Engagement Outlook

• Emerging Asian regions could be considered as favorable destinations of sourcing, due to the upcoming capacity additions, strong supply base, and ease of export duties