pbt market report

8/13/2019 PBT MARKET REPORT

1/3

86 Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich Kunststoffe international 10/2007

P BT, like PET (polyethyl-ene terephthalate) orPTT (polytrimethyleneterephthalate), belongs to thesaturated polyester family.PBT is produced either by polycondensation of tereph-thalic acid (PTA: PurifiedTerephthalic Acid) with bu-tanediol (BDO) or by transes-terification of terephthalicacid dimethyl ester (DMT)with butanediol.The PBT basepolymer obtained can then bereinforced with, for example,glass fibers or mineral fillers ormodified by the addition of

flame retardants in a subse-quent compounding opera-tion. The properties of PBTcan also be modified by blend-ing with other plastics such asPC, PET or ASA.

PBT offers a valuable com-bination of technical propertieswith its very good dimension-al stability due to low water ab-sorption, exceptionally highstiffness and good heat resist-ance.These advantages togeth-er with good processability givePBT a balanced property pro-file that make it highly suitablefor injection molding technical

parts. Among the engineeringpolymers, which have a totalmarket of 8 million t,PBT is thesecond largest semi-crystalline

material after polyamide (PA),which has global sales of 2.5 million t.

Market Development

The global market for PBTand PBT compounds totaled

some 900 kt in 2006. Globalgrowth, at over 6 %, is higherthan for other engineeringpolymers.

Asia accounts for the largestshare of demand and alsoshows the highest growth(Fig. 1 Table 1). In China, for

On the Advance. Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), as a semi-crystalline plastic

with good dimensional stability and excellent mechanical properties, has become

established in many different applications in the automotive industry and electri-cal/electronics sector. The global market volume for PBT, including PBT blends and

the PET used as an engineering polymer, passed the 900 kt mark in 2006 and has

grown at an above-average rate in recent years.

PolybutyleneTerephthalate (PBT)

Steering column switchmade from flow-enhanced PBT (photo: BASF)

Region 2006[kt]2015[kt]

Growth forecast[%]

Asia 410 770 7

Europe (*) 270 420 5

Americas 220 310 4

World 900 1,500 6

*including Africa and the Middle East

Table 1. Global sales and growth rates for PBT by region over the period2006 to 2015(source: BASF)

E104062

S P E C I A L W O R L D M A R K E T

Translated from Kunststoffe 10/2007,pp. 120123

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Germany www.kunststoffe-international.com Not for use in internet or intranet sites. Not for electronic distribution.


2/3

87

W O R L D M A R K E T S P EC I A L

Kunststoffe international 10/2007

example, there has been dou-ble-digit growth in consump-tion in recent years. The dy-namic growth of PBT in Asiawill continue over the next few years (Fig. 2).

The main applications forPBT are the automotive andelectrical/electronics indus-tries,which make up 48 % and22 % of consumption in Eu-rope respectively (Fig. 3).Con-sumption is growing in Europebecause of the good order sit-uation with European auto-motive component suppliersand the increasing provision of comfort and safety functionsin vehicles. In the electrical in-dustry, the significantly re-duced share of sales accountedfor by Europe, as comparedwith 2004, reflects the reloca-tion of production plants toAsia.

In the slower-growing mar-ket of North America, the shiftin automobile market shares toJapanese manufacturers hashad a negative impact on PBTgrowth.

Manufacturers andCapacities

On the supply side, new ca-pacities in base polymer man-ufacture and compoundinghave been created or an-nounced in the last few years.

New base polymer plantshave often been built as con-tinuous world-scale produc-tion joint ventures to reducethe risks and investment costsfor the partners.A good exam-ple of this is the Dubay plantin Hamm-Uentrop, Germany,which has been operated since2004 by Lanxess and DuPont.

However,the main focus forthe construction of new ca-pacities is Asia because of thestrong growth in that region.In 2006, BASF and Toray com-missioned a joint venture forthe production of PBT basepolymer with a capacity of 60 kt/a in Malaysia. In June2007, the Taiwanese PBT man-ufacturer Chang Chun startedup a 60 kt plant in the PeoplesRepublic of China. Other new

polymer plants have already been announced by Chinesemanufacturers.

It is also in Asia that mostactivity in relation to the in-stallation of new compound-

ing facilities can be seen. In2006, in Wuxi, China, Lanxesscommissioned its first plant inAsia for compounding PA andPBT (capacity of 20 kt). In thespring of this year (2007),BASF brought on stream a new plant in Shanghai (45 kt) thatincreases its compounding ca-pacity in Asia to more than100 kt.

But investment in com-pounding is also being madein Germany. Just recently,Lanxess and DuPont an-nounced an investment in a jointly operated polymeriza-tion facility in Hamm-Uen-trop to counter the growingmargin pressure with PBTcompounds.

In the slower-growingNorth American market, nosignificant capacity changeshave been observed in recent years.One change that did takeplace was the sale by GeneralElectrics (GE) of its plasticsbusiness. On account of shrinking margins and insuffi-cient profitability, GE decidedto sell its plastics business, GEPlastics, to the Saudi Arabiancompany Sabic. GE Plasticsproduces PBT in North Amer-ica and also at Schwarzheide,Germany,in a joint productionventure with BASF.

A survey of the most im-portant PBT manufacturers isgiven in Table 2.

Applications

In the automotive industry,which is the main applicationsegment, vehicles will increas-ingly be equipped with electri-cally controlled comfort func-tions, electronic safety func-tions and electrified auxiliary units such as power steering oroil pumps.Now, even lower ve-

hicle classes are being suppliedwith a considerable level of comfort as standard, which isleading to above-average V

Manufacturer Trade name Company headquarters

BASF Ultradur Germany

Chang Chun Chang Chun PBT China

DSM Arnite Netherlands

DuPont Crastin USA

GE Plastics (Sabic) Valox USA (Saudi Arabia)

Lanxess Pocan Germany

Mitsubishi Novadur Japan

Ticona Celanex USA

Toray Toraycon Japan

WinTech Duranex Japan

Table 2. The worlds top ten PBT manufacturers (in alphabetical order)

Asia

Europe includingAfrica/Middle East

North andSouth America 25 %

30 %

45%

Consumption

Fig. 1. Global consumption of PBT by region in 2006; total market is justover 900,000 t (source: BASF)

Kunststoffe



3/3

S P E C I A L W E LT M A R K T

growth in this sector. PBT isused in electronic componentsfor air conditioning systems,control units, electronic brakeregulation (ABS), electronicstability programs (ESP), elec-

tric window lifters,seat adjust-ment systems and housingparts for electric motors.In ad-dition, mainly through re-placement of metals, PBT isopening up new applicationswith high potential. Examplesinclude front headlamp bezels,wiper arms and accessoriesand sunroofs. This trend isleading to PBT market growththat will continue above thegeneral rate for the automotivemarket.

Besides automotive manu-facture, there also continues tobe sharply increasing demandfor PBT in the electrical/elec-tronics industry. In this sector,good dimensional stability andflame retardancy are particu-larly important.PBT is provingan excellent material for electricplugs, connectors for cable har-nesses,switches and lamp bases.With its balanced thermome-chanical properties,PBT can beused to produced extremely small components (miniatur-ization) characterized by thinwalls and reduced weight.

In household applications,too, where surface quality andheat resistance are required,PBT is the material of choice.Here it is used in componentssuch as oven knobs or coverstrips, electric irons, toasters,deep fryers and fan heaters.

In addition to these appli-cations as a compoundedproduct in the injection mold-ing process,PBT is also findingmarkets in extrusion, for ex-ample in fiber optic cable coat-ing and for bristles and tooth-brushes. PBT is also used intechnical nonwovens and as anelastic component in fiberswith high chlorine and UV re-sistance. However, the poly-ester fiber market is dominat-ed by PET, while PTT is also

used for carpets.The only filmapplications are in small spe-cialized segments.

New Products

To counteract cost pressureand so strengthen the compet-itiveness of automotive com-ponent suppliers, variousmanufacturers have developedgrades with improved flowa-bility in recent years. The pio-neers in this field were BASF,who succeeded in significant-ly improving the existing PBTand reducing system costs ininjection molding through theuse of nanotechnology. Up to30 % cycle time can be saved,thereby also cutting both ener-gy consumption and emis-sions. The improved flowabil-ity also makes it possible tomold thinner, smaller parts oralternatively to produce moreparts per shot.As a result of thelower injection pressure, in-vestment in new plants costs

less because the pressure re-quirements for the machinesare not so high.These so-calledhigh-speed grades are now be-ing supplied in a widely diverserange of products: At K 2007,BASF is launching a dozen new product grades.

For visible parts such as rearwindshield wipers, door han-dles or roof frames, PBT+PETblends are being used, withhigh glass fiber content in somecases. They have good UV re-sistance and exceptional sur-face properties.These productscan also be employed to pro-duce hollow parts by gas/waterassist molding, in order to re-duce component weight stillfurther. Other blends, such asPBT+PC or PBT+ASA, havebeen developed to achieve low-er warpage and improved im-pact strength. For example,DuPont in collaboration withMAN has developed an exteri-or component for trucks pro-duced from a PBT+SAN blend.

In the electrical/electronicsindustry, flammability behav-ior is extremely important. Forthis market, which is con-strained by numerous regula-tions and test methods, man-

ufacturers supply a range of flame-retardant products.These include, for example,grades that achieve a UL94 V0rating at a wall thickness of 0.4 mm. Flame-retardant ma-terials are also available fromdifferent producers to meet thehigh requirements for unat-tended household appliances.Halogen- and antimony-freeflame-retardant PBT gradesare now also available as spe-cial solutions. At K 2007,Ticona will be featuring inter-esting new products of thistype based on a new halogen-free flame retardant system.

Other PBT innovations in-clude materials that can belaser marked and laser weldedor are suitable for laser directstructuring of MIDs (MoldedInterconnect Devices). One of the latest product innovationsis a heat-conductive PBT fromBASF with a thermal conduc-tivity value of 1 W/mK whichis intended to replace metals inhousing covers.

Outlook

In view of the increasing de-mand for comfort and elec-tronics in vehicles and thehome, PBT will continue to beone of the fastest-growing en-gineering polymers.The latestdevelopments, such as very easyflowing grades, are at-tracting considerable interestfrom end customers and pro-vide good grounds for opti-mism.The need for processorsto cut system costs and everhigher and more complex per-formance specifications willcontinue to be the main inno-vation drivers.

Andreas Eipper,Ludwigshafen, Germany

88 Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich Kunststoffe international 10/2007

Asia

Europe includingAfrica/Middle East

North andSouth America 20 %

30 %

50 %

Forecast

Fig. 2. Forecast for global consumption of PBT by region in 2015(source: BASF)

Kunststoffe

Automotive(including E&E)

E&E

Extrusion

Others

22%(-5)

48 %(+3)

24 %(+1)

6 % (+1)

Main Applications

Fig. 3. Main applications for PBT in Europe in 2006 (data in brackets:change over 2004) (source: BASF)

Kunststoffe


pbt market report

Documents