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The global market of ethylene propylene diene monomer - which is used in automotive, building & construction, tyres and tubes, wires & cables, and lubricant additives - is projected to reach $ 7.2 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 5.4 percent between 2015 and 2020, according to a MarketsandMarkets report. The demand for EPDM will be fuelled by the growing end-user industries, increasing demand for elastomers, rising development strategies, and increasing expansion and acquisition activities.
Lubricant additives are estimated to be the fastest growing application for the forecast period owing to the fact that they are an indispensable feature of all machinery, ranging from applications which enable the manipulation of very small parts to the movement of very heavy masses. EPDM is used as a viscosity improver (VI) in lubricants. Its property to absorb oil makes it advantageous to be used in oil viscosity improving applications.
The automotive industry is the largest-growing end-use industry segment in the global EPDM market. The consumption of EPDM in the automotive industry globally is mainly due to its high heat and weather resistance, and vibration absorbing properties. It is because of these properties that EPDM is also used in various applications such as hoses, mechanical goods for under-hood applications, body sealing, weather-stripping, belts, engine mounts, brake parts, windshield wipers, etc. The market for EPDM in the automotive industry is also driven by the rise in standard of living in emerging economies.
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Asia-Pacific is the largest market for EPDM with major developments witnessed in China, Japan, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, and South Korea. The Asia-Pacific market accounted for approximately 40 percent of the global EPDM market size, in terms of value and volume, in 2014. This region is expected to dominate the market till 2020, with advanced technological developments in automotive and building & construction industry.
“Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the largest regional market till 2020 with high investments in applications such as automotive, plastic modification and building & construction industry. Also, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market for EPDM. This high growth is attributed to growing automotive market and increase in domestic demand in China,” said MarketsandMarkets in a press release.
