South America TPE Industry

South America Thermoplastic Elastomers Market Analysis

The South America Thermoplastic Elastomer Market is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 5% during the forecast period.

• Growing demand for bio-based thermoplastic elastomers are likely to create opportunities for the market in the coming years.
• Government regulations on the commercial use of TPE are expected to hinder the market demand in the future.
• Brazil is expected to dominate the market and is also likely to witness highest CAGR during the forecast period.

South America Thermoplastic Elastomers Market Trends

Increasing Usage in the Automotive and Transportation Applications

• Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are high-performance materials, whose application in the automotive industry is rapidly increasing. TPE serve the automotive industry in a myriad of applications, some of which include the manufacturing of high-quality automotive instrument panels, wheel covers, dashboard components, pillar trims, door liners and handles, seat backs, and seat belt components, among others.
• The automotive industry places particularly high requirements on the materials used. Under extreme stresses, the materials must be dimensionally stable and must not warp, even when faced with great temperature variations.
• TPEs are special types of plastic, which are not only cheaper than metals but also help to make automobiles more energy-efficient by reducing the weight, in addition to providing durability, corrosion resistance, toughness, design flexibility, resiliency, and high performance at low cost. The light weight of TPE enables more fuel-efficient vehicles. Every 10% reduction in vehicle weight is estimated to result in a 5-7% reduction in fuel usage.
• Growing demand for lightweight and high-performance plastics in the automotive industry, to provide increased efficiency and design flexibility, is primarily responsible for the growth of the TPE market. High-performance thermoplastic elastomers offer manufacturers advantages of design and the comparable strength of steel, which help in reducing the weight and controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
• All the aforementioned factors, in turn, are expected to drive the demand for thermoplastic elastomer during the forecast period.

Brazil to Dominate the Market

• There are several built-up demands for investments in productive capacity. Brazil is facing problems in the construction industry, owing to various situations, such as political and economic corruption in the country.
• Due to corruption and bribery, in construction companies, the Brazilian government introduced the 'car wash investigation'. The investigation mostly focused on various construction companies for corruption charges.
• The government of Brazil initiated programs because of the decrease in the public financing for infrastructure projects. One such program is the Programme of Investment Partnerships (PPI). It helped expand and strengthen the relationship between the private sector and the state, with partnership contracts.
• Sales of consumer electronics appear to have reached saturation in the country. Consumers are more careful while buying expensive products, and this behavior is expected to continue in the upcoming years. However, many categories were actually helped by the sale of various expensive items, such as 4K television. Despite the challenging situation, Samsung and LG are continuing to strengthen their position in the country.
• Owing to the aforementioned factors, the market for thermoplastic elastomer in the country is expected to witness huge demand in the coming years.

South America Thermoplastic Elastomers Industry Overview

The South America thermoplastic elastomer market is consolidated in nature. The key players in the market include DuPont, BASF SE, Huntsman International LLC, and KRATON CORPORATION, among others.

South America Thermoplastic Elastomers Market Leaders