According to a report by Kline Group, despite China’s economic slowdown, consumption of synthetic latex polymers in the country is expected to exceed that of North America by 2023. Meanwhile, India only holds a 5.2 percent share of global consumption in 2018, but it is the fastest-growing market for SLP globally, finds a just-released report covering the SLP markets of China, India, and North America.

“The market of synthetic latex polymers assumes a unique set of characteristics in every geography, from performance of the economy, purchasing power of the population, and industrialization to demand patterns, competition from alternate technologies, and performance of the polymers in specific end uses,” says Shilpi Mehrotra, manager of the project.

The market is shaped by the trends and dynamics in end-use industries. While paints and coatings is the largest application of synthetic latex polymers in most geographical markets, including North America and India, adhesives and sealants, with an estimated 27 percent of the market share, is the leading application in China.

In India, the paints and coatings segment is growing strongly, driven by rapid urbanization. To meet the increasing demand, Indian paint manufacturers continue to add to their plant capacities. In 2018, Asian Paints announces an investment of $53 million to build paint manufacturing facilities in Mysuru and Visakhapatnam. Kansai Nerolac is also planning to set up two new manufacturing plants in India.

Adhesives and sealants is the largest application in China because the country holds the world’s largest packaging industry. While traditional adhesives markets such as textile are slowing down, demand for high-performance, high-quality, and specialty adhesives is growing rapidly, driven by the development of high-tech sectors such as new energy, automotive, high-speed railway, aerospace, and other emerging industries. Furthermore, Internet retailing has resulted in increased demand for pressure-sensitive adhesives for labels and bar codes. Moreover, there is a preference of low-VOC products in the adhesive and sealant industry, due to the implementation of stricter regulations.

In India and China, the synthetic latex polymers competitive landscape is similar, with companies segmented into three tiers: multinationals, such as BASF, Dow Chemical, and Wacker; large domestic companies; and domestic companies with a regional focus. In both countries, local suppliers lead the market.

In China, the local Shunde BATF is the largest supplier, with a 6.5 percent volume market share in 2018, followed by BASF with 5.3 percent. Visen Industries is the largest supplier in the Indian market, with almost 17 percent volume market share in 2018, followed by BASF.

In North America, the picture is different. Large multinational suppliers—Dow Chemical, BASF, Celanese, Arkema, and Trinseo—dominate the market.

Among all the country markets of North America, Mexico offers the highest growth projections. Unlike in the United States and Canada, all product chemistries are expected to witness healthy growth in Mexico. The country will provide the highest growth potential to redispersible powders (RDPs) in North America, as the construction industry is increasingly adapting RDP in formulations.

The glass fiber industry is expected to offer the highest growth prospects to synthetic latex polymers in Mexico as well as the United States. The growth in the OEM coatings segment will be mainly driven by automotive manufacturing, with growing demand for environmentally friendly coating formulations with low-VOC and APE-free profiles. Overall, polymers with the best environmental profiles, such as VAE and VA VEVA, are expected to witness strong growth.

Synthetic Latex Polymers: Global Business Analysis and Opportunities provides a detailed, independent appraisal of the market. It is designed to provide both instant market results through an interactive database, as well as in-depth analyses of each regional end-use segment through comprehensive reports.