In Global Foamed Plastic Market, Developing Countries Will Offer the Best Growth Opportunities

Cleveland OH, June 16, 2022 – The sizable stock of substandard housing units in the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Mideast regions – which together account for over 75% of the world’s population – presents a significant growth opportunity for the foamed plastic insulation industry, according to a new Freedonia Group analysis.

Governments in a number of developing countries in these areas – particularly India – are working to improve housing quality, including through the adoption of minimum insulation requirements. Additionally, foamed plastic insulation sales in these countries will be driven by:

• improving income levels and standards of living in developing countries
• rural-to-urban migration, leading to increased construction in urban areas, where buildings generally use more insulation than those in rural areas
• rapidly expanding nonresidential building construction markets

India to Register Fastest Demand Growth of Any Major Country Through 2025

Demand for foamed plastic insulation in India is expected to rise at the fastest rate of increase of any major country through 2025, finds the Freedonia Group analysis. Market expansion will be bolstered by:

• rising standards of living and improving construction practices
• the strongest anticipated growth in both residential and nonresidential building construction activity of any major country through 2025
• robust gains in the production of appliances, transportation, and industrial and plant equipment

In particular, rigid PUR and PIR are projected to post robust demand increases through 2025, bolstered by strong gains in appliance production.

Want to Learn More?

Global Foamed Plastic Insulation, now available from the Freedonia Group, provides historical data (2010, 2015, and 2020) and forecasts for 2025 and 2030 for foamed plastic insulation demand by product (in dollars and metric tons) and market (metric tons and square meters R-1). Demand in value terms is shown at the manufacturers’ level and excludes distributor and retailer markups.

Products:

• expanded polystyrene (EPS), including graphite polystyrene
• polyurethane (PUR) and polyisocyanurate (PIR), including rigid board and spray polyurethane foam (SPF) types
• extruded polystyrene (XPS)
• small volume products (including, elastomeric, phenolic, polyolefin, melamine)

Markets:

• residential buildings
• nonresidential buildings
• industrial and plant equipment (e.g., machinery boilers, pipes, tanks)
• appliances (e.g., refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers)
• HVAC/air distribution equipment
• transportation equipment (e.g., motor vehicles, aerospace equipment, ships and boats, railroad equipment
• other insulation markets (including insulated coolers and thermoses, insulated packaging, furniture, bedding, nonbuilding/infrastructure construction, and heavy machinery)