BCC Research

Market Research Reports and Technical Publications

Little limit to MIM’s future

The market for metal injection molding (MIM) is bounding ahead at a 14%/yr pace, according to a new report, “Metal and Ceramic Injection Molding,” from BCC Research (Wellesley, MA), with the total market for MIM parts to reach $2.7 billion by 2014. That’s a far cry from the many billions spent on molded thermoplastic parts, but the growth rate is bound to grab the attention of some plastics processors keen to tap into a related but swifter-developing market.

Plus, say some who have worked in both markets, it’s easier, at least on the business side. Dan Tasseff, for instance, now is director of sales and marketing at FloMet LLC (DeLand, FL), one of North America’s largest MIM processors with 19 molding machines, 17 of them from Milacron (Cincinnati, OH). Intereviewed at the Plastec Midwest trade show in Rosemont, IL in late September, he recalled his days in sales at a thermoplastics molder as much more difficult, with customers almost exclusively focused on lowest piece part cost. In MIM, he said, the lack of competitors, and a further lack of those with sufficient capacity for large projects, means molders have a better chance of earning a nice profit on the work they do—-albeit often very complex work, such as the child’s braces (for straightening teeth) he had on display at that trade show.

Also at that event was Frank Yu, sales manager at Eversun Technology Co. Ltd., a MIM and thermoplastics processor with a new mega-customer in apparel supplier Levi Strauss, which tapped Everson to start this year molding the as-yet metal stamped buttons for its jeans. Although based in Qingdao, China, he says higher costs for shipping have not affected his business; in fact, he says, parts are always sent by airfreight. “Industrial designers are increasingly choosing MIM (over metal stamping or other processes) as they learn more about it,” he said. The processor also counts tool manufacturer Black & Decker among its large MIM customers. ¹

¹Matt Defosse, Dec 01, 2008 Plastics Today

Bookmark and Share

Price stabilization of bioplastics expected in 2015

Producers and packaging associations claim improvements to cost, performance and moisture barrier properties of bioplastics as well as more investment in sorting technology to prevent contamination of recycling waste streams will enable the industry to compete more effectively with conventional plastics.

Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch or pea starch. However, many are reliant on fossil fuel-derived energy for their manufacturing.

Christophe Doukhi de Boissoudy, president of the Club des Bioplastiques, told attendees at the conference section of the Emballage 2008 trade show that the development of bioplastics for food and drink packaging has been hindered due to the fact that they are costlier to produce than petroleum based plastics.

He predicts that with more investment in R&D to enable the fine tuning of bioplastics so ensure they become technologically and environmentally competitive this cost gap with petroleum-based plastics will be drastically reduced.

Doukhi de Boissoudy added that producers of bioplastic packaging are aiming for price stabilization by 2015.

Market predictions

Meanwhile, the BCC research group said that the market for biodegradable plastics, in terms of volume, reached 541 million lbs in 2007, and is expected to reach 1.2 billion lbs by 2012.

And market analysts, Freedonia, predicts that natural polymer demand will grow 7.1 per cent annually to $4bn in 2012, with expansion due in part to improved production technologies for materials such as PLA.

The group said that PLA will see significant growth in packaging areas such as thermoformed containers.

Non-food sources

Communication spokesperson for European Bioplastics, to Melanie Gentzik, told FoodProductionDaily.com that while bioplastics have no impact on the current food supply and availability situation, technical solutions to use mainly non-food crops in their manufacturer are under investigation or already in use.

She called for all parties involved in their production to support sustainable development of bioplastics, and to take into account that no raw material has unlimited availability and therefore the most efficient use of resources must be achieved.

“Bioplastics should be regarded as a solution to promote sustainable development and not as a threat to it,” said Gentzik.

Degradation

Most bioplastics will only degrade in the tightly controlled conditions of commercial composting units. An internationally agreed standard, EN13432, defines how quickly and to what extent a plastic must be degraded under commercial composting conditions for it to be called biodegradable.

There is no standard applicable to home composting conditions for bioplastics.

Italian bioplastic manufacturer Novamont said that that producing one kilogram of its starch-based product uses 500g of petroleum and consumes almost 80 per cent of the energy required to produce a traditional polyethylene polymer.

And environmental data from NatureWorks, manufacturer of PLA bioplastic, says that making its plastic material delivers a fossil fuel saving of between 25 and 68 per cent compared with polyethylene, in part due to its purchasing of renewable energy certificates for its manufacturing plant.

According to the company, its PLA can be physically recycled, composted through industrial processes, incinerated via waste to energy systems, and also chemically recycled back into its base monomer unit of lactic acid.¹

¹Jane Byrne, Food Production Daily

Bookmark and Share

High Growth Forecasted For Large And Advanced Battery Technology And Markets

by Staff Writers
New York NY (SPX) Nov 17, 2008

Until about 20 years ago, the U.S. battery market was considered mature, with demand closely related to sales of either automobiles or various consumer products. Since then, advanced batteries have helped spark a dramatic change in this relationship.

“Large and advanced battery” is an arbitrary designation developed by BCC Research to describe a market-driven battery classification. As defined in this report, large and advanced batteries must have three attributes-they must be secondary (rechargeable) electrochemical energy storage devices (batteries), “large” in terms of size and energy capacity, and technologically advanced.

This definition excludes all primary (nonrechargeable) batteries and all lead-acid automotive batteries, as well as all A, C, and D cylindrical batteries and button cells. Nonautomotive lead-acid batteries are included. Many portable product batteries, including computer power, portable tools, and battery-powered lawn care products are included.

Several entirely new classes of advanced batteries have been commercialized during the last 20 years, including nickel-metal hydride, secondary lithium, and zinc-air designs.

Meanwhile, improved microelectronic battery charger controller technology is allowing the commercialization of entire new classes of batteries (notably rechargeable alkaline and lithium-ion) often at the expense of previously important battery systems (notably nickel-cadmium and portable product lead-acid).

This, in turn, has allowed the commercialization of portable products that would have been impossible without improved battery chargers, including portable computers and portable cordless hand tools.

As this synergy continues to develop, there are areas where the advanced battery industry could experience the explosive growth usually associated with emerging industries.

Battery designers (mainly electrochemists) and battery charger designers (mainly electrical and electronics specialists) will continue to operate together, with new batteries and new battery chargers evolving together to produce even higher performance products.¹

¹Energy Daily

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

Digital Photography Market Worth $230.9 Billion in 2013

digital_photography_market_worth_2309_billion_20131The global market for digital photography technology will be worth $230.9 billion in 2013. According to a report by BCC Research, it was worth $136.7 billion in 2007 and an estimated $155.0 billion in 2008. Digital photography products are the larger market segment, generating $91.0 billion in 2007. The markets are substantially larger than they were in the past because a much greater number of people are more passionately involved with digital photography than with silver halide photography.

BCC Research Press Release

Wellesley, Mass—According to a new technical market research report, THE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY MARKET (IFT030B) from BCC Research, the global market for digital photography technology was worth $136.7 billion in 2007 and an estimated $155.0 billion in 2008. This market will increase to over $230.9 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3%.

The market is broken down into digital photography products and digital photography applications. Digital photography products are the larger market segment, generating $91.0 billion in 2007. This segment is expected to increase to $101.3 billion in 2008 and $130.6 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 5.2%. Digital photography products include digital still cameras, interchangeable lenses, photo processing equipment, photo printers, image sensors, camera cell phones and storage products.

Digital photography applications have the second largest share of the market, worth $45.7 billion in 2007 and an estimated $53.7 billion in 2008. This should reach $100.4 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 13.3%. Applications include professional photography, traditional stock photography, microstock photography, photography software, photo processing, photo books, surveillance and security, automotive, machine vision and medical visualization.

Before the advent of the digital camera, photography related markets would have included the cameras, interchangeable lenses, film, film processing equipment, photo printers, scanners, and some storage products. However, the introduction of the digital camera changed all of these markets in some way. Overall, the markets are substantially larger than they were in the past because a much greater number of people are more passionately involved with digital photography than ever were with silver halide photography.

Additionally, digital cameras have made possible new applications in areas such as online photo sharing, customized digital photo products, microstock photography and camera cell phones.¹

Source:  BCC Research, Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA)

¹Photography Blog UK

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

U.S. Market for Alternative Chemical Products Worth $ 94.8 Billion by 2013

According to a new technical market research report, “Alternative Chemical Products and Processes”, from BCC Research, the U.S. market for alternative chemical products is expected to be worth $ 46.6 billion in 2008. This will increase to $ 94.8 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3%. The market is broken down by end-use alternative chemical products and includes plastics, packaging, cleaning and detergent products, miscellaneous specialty chemicals and other chemical products. Miscellaneous specialty chemicals have the largest share of the U.S. market and are expected to be worth $ 17.3 billion in 2008 and $ 35.5 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 15.5%.¹

35496942_ce5e3666981

¹Process Worldwide-04-2008

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

Meet the Expert: Older Adult Solutions

The fitness industry’s core membership, 18- to 49-year-olds, will experience virtually no population growth between 2006 and 2016, according to U.S. Census data analysis by the SIR Boomer Project. The impact from this is already being felt, as, for the first time in more than a decade, fitness membership numbers are on the decline. Compounding this decline is the fact that fitness centers keep spending obscene amounts of money to persuade the already-converted to join, while the industry has a yearly attrition rate of 27 percent (according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, Boston, Mass.). That is one full fitness center’s worth of members who leave every 3.7 years. In addition, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June 2008, the level of leisure time physical activity rates of adults 18 and older dipped from 31.8 percent in 1997 to 30.8 percent in 2007.¹

——

BCC Research, Wellesley, Mass., projects that, by 2009, consumers will spend more than $72 billion on products and services to help slow the aging process. This is what happens when the largest, richest and fastest-growing segments of the population demand products and services designed and marketed specifically for them.

As upward of 78 million boomers make their way into retirement with more than $2 trillion in buying power, they will be demanding more from your business — especially given the fact that only 27 percent of fitness centers offer programs for older adults, according to a 2005 multi-site survey by Dr. Susan Hughes.¹

¹Colin Milner; Fitness Management Magazine

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

Tax Credits for Renewable Energy Bode Well for U.S. Manufacturing

Mark Shortt
Editorial Director

All over the U.S., people are wondering aloud whether manufacturing that left our shores is now ready to come back. Factors like greater supply chain efficiency and intellectual property security, coupled with high shipping costs and the rising cost of labor overseas, have many believing that the pendulum may be swinging back in favor of manufacturing in the United States.

How this ultimately plays out remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic. Coupled with this is a golden opportunity to “take the bull by the horns” in another area. An excellent bet for rebuilding a strong manufacturing base in the states is to support the growth of emerging technologies targeted at high-growth areas like renewable energy (solar, wind, and geothermal power); fuel-efficient, hybrid, and all-electric vehicles; and cleantech sectors such as water desalination and purification. It’s an opportunity for America to become the leader in the manufacturing of parts and components necessary for renewable power-generating equipment and systems, as well as other systems that will be crucial to solving some of the planet’s biggest issues–such as clean water shortages–over the long term.

Many of the skilled workers formerly employed in industries that have lost jobs to overseas companies already have the skills required by a clean energy economy. These include sheet metal workers, welders, and machinists ready to ply their trade in an important growth industry.  And many of the domestic manufacturing plants formerly used for manufacturing parts that are now being outsourced overseas can be retooled for production of components needed in new energy technologies, like wind, solar, and geothermal.

As it turns out, American manufacturing for the wind power industry, in particular, has already gotten off to a pretty good start. On September 3, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) issued a statement announcing that U.S. wind industry installations had surpassed 20,000 megawatts (MW), achieving in two years what had previously taken more than two decades. According to AWEA, wind now provides 20,152 MW of electricity-generating capacity in the United States.  It is said to produce enough electricity to serve 5.3 million American homes or power a fleet of more than 1 million plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“Wind energy installations are well ahead of the curve for contributing 20% of the U.S. electric power supply by 2030 as envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy,” said Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in the statement.

Earlier this year, AWEA reported an increase in the share of U.S.-made wind turbine components, from less than 30% to approximately 50% in three years. A big factor, AWEA said, was the “relatively stable availability” of the production tax credit (PTC) over the last three years. As a result, U.S.-based supply chain providers have been able to establish a much stronger foundation of domestic manufacturing for turbine components, ranging from towers and blades to gear boxes, bearings, and electrical and electronic components. AWEA estimated that, by the end of 2008, approximately half of the turbine components for turbines installed in the U.S. will be produced domestically. It also said that in 2007 and early 2008, at least 17 manufacturing facilities had been brought online or expanded in the U.S., creating more than 4,000 jobs and $500 million in manufacturing investment.

In August, a new market research report from BCC Research projected the domestic market for wind turbine components and systems to be worth $60.9 billion in 2013, up from $7.9 billion in 2007 and an estimated $11.2 billion in 2008. This growth potential hasn’t gone unnoticed outside the U.S., either, as evidenced by a recent Wall Street Journal report (September 12, Alexander Becker, B4) that Germany’s Siemens AG planned to increase its production of wind-turbine parts in the United States. Andreas Nauen, chief executive of Siemens’s wind power unit, reportedly told the Wall Street Journal’s Alexander Becker that Siemens plans to manufacture wind-turbine nacelles in the U.S., in addition to the rotor blades that it already produces at a plant in Iowa. “By boosting its manufacturing capacity,” Becker wrote, “Siemens is getting in gear for the expected long-term growth of the world-wide wind-power market.”

As Design-2-Part goes to press, the recently-adjourned U.S. Congress has taken a necessary step toward ensuring that renewable energy technologies continue to play a vital role in the expansion of U.S. manufacturing. Its passage, on October 3, 2008, of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 extends the federal investment tax credits for businesses and individuals who invest in various forms of renewable energy. The new law, signed by the President the same day, also extends the production tax credits for facilities that generate energy from renewable sources. Both actions are expected to increase the market demand for American-made parts, components, and assemblies on the part of OEMs serving industries such as solar, wind, geothermal, and green building.

Renewal of the tax credits encourages further investment in renewable energy industries that have the potential to help solve our nation’s energy problems while providing meaningful jobs for thousands of workers. According to a report from AWEA earlier this year, expiration of the tax credits could have placed $19 billion in renewable energy investment and some 116,000 American jobs at risk. Let’s hope that the tax credits help to continue the momentum that’s been built toward strengthening America’s economy around a clean-energy manufacturing base.

For more information on AWEA, visit www.awea.org.

For more on BCC Research, or its report, “Wind Turbines: The U.S. Market (EGY058A),” visit www.bccresearch.com or contact the company at 866-285-7215.

¹Design-2-Part Magazine

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

Global Nutraceutical Market Update

WELLESLEY, Mass.—According to a new technical market research report, Nutraceuticals:global markets and processing technologies (FOD013C) from BCC Research, the global market for nutraceuticals was worth $117.3 billion in 2007. This is expected to increase to $123.9 billion in 2008 and reach $176.7 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4 percent.
The market is broken down into nutraceutical foods, beverages and supplements. Nutraceutical foods were the largest market segment in 2007, worth $39.9 billion. This is expected to increase to $40.6 billion in 2008 and $56.7 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 6.9 percent.
Nutraceutical supplements have the second largest market share, generating $39.0 billion in 2007 and an estimated $40.5 billion in 2008. This segment should reach $48.8 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 3.8 percent.
The nutraceutical beverages segment represents the fastest growing segment, and is expected to have the largest share of the market by 2013. This segment was worth $38.4 billion in 2007 and is expected to increase to $42.8 billion in 2008 and $71.3 billion in 2013, for a CAGR of 10.8 percent.
The global nutraceutical market is defined as aggregate sales of functional food, beverage and supplements fortified with bioactive ingredients including fiber, probiotics, protein and peptides, omega, phytochemicals, and vitamins and minerals. Currently, foods, beverages and supplements equally contribute about 33 percent each to the total global nutraceutical market. However, functional beverages are expected to overtake the other two markets. The supplement market, on the other hand, is nearly reaching saturation.
The total functional food, beverage and supplement market is known for premiumisation, and thereby makes the market fatter in terms of net sales. The U.S. is leading the global nutraceutical market with over 32.8 percent of the global market share.

¹Natural Products Insider

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

3M taps into wind-power business with new `Wind Tape’

3M Co., best known for its Scotch Tape, Post-it brand notes and adhesives, is going into the wind-energy business, with a new line of fillers and protective coverings that can extend the life of wind turbine blades.

The 3M Wind Tape product line, part of the $24.5 billion Maplewood-based company’s new Renewable Energy division, puts 3M Co. in the middle of the scramble to develop renewable energy that will reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and pare global greenhouse gas emissions.

Growth of the wind-energy industry was underscored by a technical market research report issued in August by Wellesley, Mass.-based BCC Research.

The report indicated that that U.S. wind turbine components and systems would be worth $60.9 billion in 2013 – more than five times the 2008 market value of $11.2 billion. ¹

¹Bob Geiger; Finance and Commerce

read more | digg story

Bookmark and Share

Modest growth for US engineering resins

According to a new technical market research report, Engineering Resins, Polymer Alloys and Blends from BCC Research, the North American market for engineering resins and polymer alloys/blends reached 1.5 billion kg (3.3 billion pounds) in 2007. This is expected to increase to 1.54 billion kg (3.4 billion pounds) in 2008 and reach more than 1.77 billion kg (3.9 billion pounds) in 2013, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1 per cent.

The market is broken down into polycarbonates, nylons, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyacetals, polycarbonate acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene alloy/blends (PC/ABS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyphenylene oxide high-impact polystyrene (PPO/HIPS) and others. Of these, polycarbonates have the largest share of the market, with 402 million kg (887 million pounds) in 2007. This is expected to increase to 414 million kg (912 million pounds) in 2008 and 500 million kg (1.1 billion pounds) in 2013, a CAGR of 3.1 per cent. BCC Research adds that the second largest segment is nylons, with 363 million kg (801 million pounds) used in 2007 and an estimated 374 million kg (825 million pounds) in 2008. This should increase to 433 million kg (954 million pounds) in 2013 for a CAGR of 3.0 per cent. PBT is the third largest material by volume, with 186 million kg (410 million pounds) used in 2007. This is expected to increase to 192 million kg (423 million pounds) in 2008 and nearly 227 million kg (500 million pounds) in 2013, a CAGR of 3.2 per cent.

read more | digg story

¹Plastics Additives & Compounds; AddComp.com

Bookmark and Share

Older entries »