Ethylene Copolymers Market - Forecast(2022 - 2027)

Ethylene Copolymers Market size is forecast to reach $62.19 billion by 2026, after growing at a CAGR of 7.3% during 2021-2026, owing to the wide usage of ethylene copolymers in packaging industries. There is also a growing demand for the usage of renewable packaging material. The companies are adopting various strategies and investing heavily in R&D to develop technical advancement in the products. However, the pandemic has turned to be the biggest challenge for the market.

The report: “Ethylene Copolymers Market – Forecast (2021-2026)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Ethylene Copolymers Market. 

By Type: Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers, Ethylene acrylates copolymers, Ethylene acrylic ester terpolymers, and Ethylene-vinyl acetate terpolymers 

By Application: Packaging & Labelling, Adhesives, Glue Sticks, Bookbinding, Woodworking, Sanitary & Disposals, Solar Cell Encapsulation, and Others

By End-Use Industry: Automotive, Food & Beverages, Textile, Building & Construction, Healthcare, Electrical & Electronics, and Others

By Geography: North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of World (RoW)

• Asia Pacific region dominates the ethylene copolymers market owing to the high demand for packaging materials.
• The market drivers and restraints have been assessed to understand their impact over the forecast period.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the countries have gone under lockdown, due to which operations of various industries has been negatively affected, which is hampering the ethylene copolymers market growth.

Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers held the largest share in the Ethylene Copolymers Market in 2020. It is a colourless, flammable, volatile liquid that is derived from the copolymerization of ethylene with vinyl acetate. EVA are mainly used as a stretch film for shrink wrapping, protector strips, shoe soles and disposable medical equipment. As a coating (for heat sealing) on polypropylene, polyethene terephthalate and aluminium films and also in some other applications include tubing and wire coating. 

Packaging and labelling hold the largest share in Ethylene Copolymers Market in the year 2020. The rise is mainly due to the growing demand for smart packaging techniques worldwide. According to plastic recyclers Europe, 15 megatons of flexible films are annually used, out of which 9 mega metric ton are polyethene and 2.5 are polypropylene films. The plastic packaging industry is rising because of increase in usage and new development.  Enabled by technologies as well as IoT, QR codes, RFID labels, NFC, and sensors, several market leaders across industries area unit grasp innovative good packaging applications, notably of the connected sort.

Food & Beverages dominates the Ethylene Copolymers Market growing at the CAGR of 14.2%. The packaged food & beverages segment is witnessing demand because of shift in the consumer preference for the branded packed products. This rise is mainly supported by chocolates, biscuits, snack bars, savoury snacks, spreads, dressings, baked food, baby food, sauces, health drinks & juices and others. The shift towards branded food is mainly rising in urban consumers because of increasing trend of online shopping and opening of supermarket and hypermarkets. According to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) Indian food processing industry comprise of 32% of the country’s total food market. Online food delivery grew up to 150% with estimated GMW of $300 million in 2017. Also, the EVA copolymer is also used in the encapsulation of the photovoltaic cell in most of the solar cells because of its special properties like elasticity, better transmission of light, melting fluidity, adhesive property, and a very low processing temperature.  According to International Energy Agency, energy demand is rising at 1.3% per year to 2040 with increasing demand for energy is restrained and this is below the remarkable growth seen in 2018 by 2.3%.

Asia-Pacific (APAC) dominated the Ethylene Copolymers Market with a market share of 42% followed by North America and Europe in the year 2020. APAC as a whole is set to continue to be one of the largest and fastest-growing copolymers markets globally. Large and more developed markets such China, India, Japan, and South Korea are expected to grow more in the coming years. China is driving much of the Ethylene Copolymers market demand in Asia-Pacific region followed by India and Japan as China is the second-largest packaging and labelling country of the world. The strong and healthy growth in the renewable energy sector is associated with growing population and the demand for solar energy which tend to drive APAC Ethylene Copolymers Market. 

The increase in research and development in ethylene copolymer market is driving the market. Researchers at China’s Hebei University of Technology have recently developed a luminescent ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer film which has the potential of raising the efficiency of conventional polycrystalline solar cells by 0.50%. The film is also able to convert the strong light source like ultraviolet light into a strong visible light. The new R&D’s are driving the growth of ethylene copolymers market.

The companies are adopting various growth strategies and investing extensively to develop technically advanced unique and biodegradable products. Avantium N.V received a 25-million-euro ($28 million) Horizon 2020 grant to establish an innovative value-chain for plant-based furan dicarboxylic acid and polyethene furonoate used in making biodegradable products. The increase in demand for renewable and biodegradable products are leading towards the new growth. The products like green polyethylene and bio-based EVA resin are leading world towards sustainable innovation in the chemical industry.

The strict regulations are being imposed in countries across the world to use renewable and biodegradable material. The new age technological materials are replacing the old traditional method of using plastics because of its harmful effects on the environment. The polymers like Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF), Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and other biopolymers are the new age polymers which are environment friendly and renewable. 

The emergence of COVID-19, which is declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, is having a noticeable impact on global economic growth. According to International Monetary Fund, the global GDP is expected to decline by 3% in 2020. According to World Trade Organization (WTO), global trade volumes are projected to decline between 13% and 32% in 2020 because of the economic impact of COVID-19. The market now must come up with new strategies to deal with pandemic and drive the future growth of the market.

The changing technology and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Ethylene Copolymers market. In 2020, the market of ethylene copolymers has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for xx% of the share. Major players in the ethylene copolymers market are Sipchem chemicals, USI Corporation, Lyondellbasell, Borealis Group, BASF SE, Arkema Group, Celanese Corporation and Others.

• In October 2018, Borealis and Borouge launched Boreallis Bormed PL8830-PH, which is the first controlled plastomers solution for the healthcare industry. It is an expansion of Polyethylene and polypropylene products.