The 6th edition of Freedonia’s “Global Flame Retardants Market” report estimates that the flame retardant market will continue to grow through to 2020, with slower growth in China offset by demand in India, Brazil and Eastern Europe.
Rising standards of living will lead to improvements in product quality, e.g. for vehicles, resulting in demand for high-performance materials which include flame retardants. Other trends driving demand for FRs identified are the increasing use of plastics, are stricter building safety standards, whereas wireless connectivity (replacing cables and desktop computers) will reduce demand. Phosphorus-based FRs will show the highest growth as PIN FRs replace phased out FRs. World FR use in construction will increase 3.2% per year through to 2020, to reach over 800 000 tonnes. Other major sectors covered in the Freedonia study are wires and cables, electronics, motor vehicles, textiles, furnishings, aircraft, marine and railway applications.
“Global Flame Retardants Market, Industry Study with Forecasts for 2020 & 2025”, Freedonia Study #3499, February 2017 http://www.freedoniagroup.com/brochure/34xx/3499smwe.pdf and “Flame Retardants Used in Construction to Reach 803,000 Metric Tons in 2020” http://ww” w.crossroadstoday.com/story/34558301/flame-retardants-used-in-construction-to-reach-803000-metric-tons-in-2020