World Analysis – ABS Resin

Duration: Long-term outlook to 2050

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins are well-established, high-volume, amorphous engineering thermoplastics that offer an excellent balance of heat, chemical, and impact resistance with superior processing versatility. ABS resins are commonly produced in general-purpose, high-heat, flame retardant, plateable, and extrusion grades. ABS is also used to make alloys or blends with other polymers, such as PC/ABS and PA6/ABS. ABS surface appearance can range from high gloss to matte finish, depending on the polymerization process. ABS is also dimensionally stable across a wide range of ambient temperatures and humidity levels. Flame-retardant additives can be added to suppress the ignition or flammability of the polymer. On balance, these characteristics make ABS an excellent choice for business/office equipment, appliances, electrical outdoor power equipment, toys, and many interior and exterior automotive components, plus countless other versatile uses across many industries and end-use applications.

ABS has become a mature product like other styrene derivatives, such as polystyrene (PS) and expandable PS (EPS). However, ABS continues to enjoy demand growth, especially in the appliance, automotive, and electronics industries. This versatile polymer competes primarily with polypropylene (PP) in the transportation sector and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) in in the appliance sector. Appliance manufacturers already converted many applications from ABS to PS to reduce the costs of the final product. ABS continues to be selected for highly visible appliance components where the gloss/luster of ABS yields an appearance preferred by consumers. Automobile manufacturers have converted many interior trim components from ABS to PP primarily for aesthetics as vehicle-interior trim styling migrated from high-gloss to low-gloss finishes, but the moderately lower cost of PP was also an important consideration. By now, low gloss interior automotive components are primarily made of mass-ABS that is more easily pigmented with color concentrates and produced in master batches. The production technology employed at the ABS polymerization plant, whether it be emulsion or mass polymerization, significantly influences the cost of producing ABS.

Duration: Long-term outlook to 2050

The World Analysis – ABS Resins provides a comprehensive analysis and key insights into critical market developments as they shape the future outlook for the global ABS Resins market.

The following reports, data files, analytical tools and visualization modules are available online and can be downloaded from our website:

• Direct Access to the Subject Matter Experts
• In-depth exploration of present market strategic insights, recognition of critical challenges, and presentation of our experts’ forecasts and analysis
• Explanatory Notes detailing data sources, methodologies, unit and conversion factors, and World Analysis deliverables.
• Energy and Economy assumptions
• Price, cost, and margin base assumptions forecast and sensitivities analysis, including price assessment methodology and price definitions across all regions.
• Excel data files with standard supply/demand graphics and price forecasts extended to 2050, trade grids with country and regional trade flows Data appendix (Excel) with supply/demand, capacity and trade tables.
• An online dashboard visualization of capacity, supply/demand, trade grids, and price, cost and margin forecasts
• Supply/demand and capacity database access via data browser
• Data Appendix (Excel) with supply/demand and capacity tables
• Capacity by company/shareholder, capacity integration, top producer/consumer and surplus/deficit capacity ranking, and ownership/subsidiary information

This World Analysis contains detailed information on capacities, production, demand, and trade for all significant producing and consuming countries and regions. Although data gathering is essential for understanding history and potential future trends, we believe that the interpretation and analysis of the data is the most valuable information to our clients.

Duration: Long-term outlook to 2050