The surging usage of high temperature elastomers in the automotive industry is propelling their sales around the world. Moreover, with the boom in the automotive industry, especially in the Latin American and Asia-Pacific countries, the demand for these elastomers is rising sharply. These elastomers are extensively used in gaskets, boots, seals, dampers, and hoses, on account of their various beneficial characteristics such as resistance to automotive lubricants and heat, flexibility, and durability.
Besides, these elastomers are also heavily used in the oil and gas, healthcare, electrical, transport, and aerospace industries. For example, they are used for producing seat covers, tyres, and specialty rubber in the transport industry. On the other hand, in the consumer goods, electronics, and healthcare industries, they are used as additives, on account of their beneficial traits. Additionally, these elastomers also have several applications in the construction industry. Furthermore, many manufacturing companies are launching campaign programs and advertisements for promoting the use of high temperature elastomers, thereby fueling the expansion of the high temperature elastomers market.
As a result, the market value is expected to grow from $9,991.7 million in 2017 to $14,951.4 million by 2023. According to the forecast of P&S Intelligence, a market research company based in India, the market will progress at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2018 to 2023. Perfluorocarbon elastomers, fluorocarbon elastomers, silicone elastomers, fluorosilicone elastomers, polyacrylate, and nitrile are the most commonly used types of high temperature elastomers. Out of these, the demand for the silicone elastomers was found to be the highest during the last few years.
This was mainly because of the extensive usage of these elastomers in the automotive and construction industries. For example, silicone elastomers are used as structural glazing material and sealant in the construction industry and in vibration dampers and cure place gaskets in the automotive industry. Automobile and transportation, healthcare, semiconductor and electronics, consumer products, chemical processing, construction, and industrial machinery are the major application areas of high temperature elastomers. Out of these, the usage of these elastomers was the highest in automobile and transportation applications in 2017.
The use of high temperature elastomers is growing rapidly in the aerospace, automotive, and transportation industries, on account of the fact that these elastomers can withstand extreme temperatures and have good solvent and chemical resistance. Moreover, these elastomers are being increasingly used for manufacturing under-the-hood components and various automotive machinery parts. Geographically, the sales of these elastomers are predicted to rise at the highest rate in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the forthcoming years.
This is ascribed to the existence of several end use industries and many electrical and electronics manufacturing firms, increasing construction activities, and rapid economic progress of the regional countries. In addition to this, the expanding industrial base in India and China, due to their economic growth, is also driving the demand for these elastomers in the region. KCC Corporation, Dow Corning Corporation, Wacker Chemie AG, Solvay S.A., 3M Company, and Momentive Performance Materials Inc., are some of the major high temperature elastomer producing companies across the world.
Hence, the expansion of the automotive industry and surging construction activities will drive the sales of high temperature elastomers all over the world in the upcoming years.