asian pu digest 02/2018 - static.gupta-verlag.com · asian pu digest 1 january asian pu digest 2...

TPU films for car cockpits

Series tools for cable foaming

TECHNICAL MAGAZINE FOR THE ASIAN POLYURETHANES INDUSTRY

www.asian-pu-digest.com

Asian

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As part of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and one of the leading providers of FIP applications for your components in China, we are the expert at your side!

Benefit from our process know-how and our many years of experience. We have a large selection of sealing, gluing and potting systems as well as the right dispensing systems for you.

With our own polyurethane production in Suzhou, we can also supply you at short notice. For individual sampling and contract manufacturing of your components on our systems, please contact us.

[email protected]

Sonderhoff – your expert in Formed In-Place (FIP) technology

Automated Gasketing, Gluing, Potting

CHINAPLAS 24th – 27th April 2018Shanghai, Booth 2J85 / Hall 2HWe look forward to you!

3Asian PU Digest – VOL. 2, NO. 2

Editorial

Dear readers,

For the current issue of “Asian PU Digest”, we have chosen a nice review by Dr. S. Yamasaki, Mitsui Chemicals, about TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers) and TSU (thermosetting polyurethane elastomers or cast polyurethane elastomers) covering the chemical structure of PU elastomers, their production processes, main properties and applications.

Another focus of this issue is on the automotive industry:

The global automotive market report by Prof. Dr. F. Dudenhöffer, Director, CAR – Center Automotive Research, clearly states that “the strongest growth in 2018 in the automotive market can be expected again in Asia.” Accord-ing to his forecast, a total of 38.15 million new cars will be sold in Asia in the year 2018 corresponding to 44 % of all new vehicles sold worldwide.

Prof. Dr. S. Bratzel, Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, comes to a similar result regarding e-mobility: “The global electro mobility will continue to be determined by the leading market China, which is experiencing strong growth.”

The magazine is completed by two further papers, one by A. Austin, Labyrinth Research and Markets, about “In-vestment opportunities for the PU industry in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and another one from the Spray Foam Alliance of India, a strategic initiative of the IPUA, that describes “the building insulation as a neglected domain in most parts of India and how the Indian Polyurethane Association (IPUA) took a positive step towards addressing this issue constructively by aligning with the rest of the insulation industry to form the India Insulation Forum (IIF).”

As usual, the current issue also informs you about upcoming exciting events for the Asian polyurethane community:

The biggest event, which is also covered with a preview within this magazine, is the Chinaplas 2018, taking place from 24th to 27th April 2018 in Shanghai, China. If this event, covering the broad range of plastics, is too general for you and if you are more linked to the automotive industry, we warmly recommend the 4th CAR-Symposium China, which takes place at the same time, from 25th to 26th April 2018 in Beijing, China.

Your Dr. Gupta Team

4 Asian PU Digest – VOL. 2, NO. 2

ContentNews .................................................................................................................................. 6

Global automotive market slows down in 2018 – China remains growth engine ................... 12

E-mobility: Annual balance 2017 of sales trends in important global automotive markets ... 16

Lubrizol expands global TPU capacities ............................................................................. 19

Spray foam alliance of India – a strategic initiative of the IPUA ........................................... 20

Investment Opportunities for the PU Industry in the Islamic Republic of Iran – Market study by Labyrinth Research and Markets ............................................................. 22

S. YamasakiIndustrial synthetic methods for rubbers – Polyurethane elastomers ................................... 24

Global TPU markets 2017 – 2021 ...................................................................................... 31

Chinaplas 2018 with new venue and new theme zones – Preview to Asia’s no. 1 plastics and rubber trade show ...................................................... 32

Publication information & contacts

Reference to common names, trade names, names of goods, etc., does not warrant the assumption that such names are unrestricted and may therefore be used by anyone. Legally protected registered trademarks are often involved, even if these are not expressly shown as such.

Copyright and publisher’s rights:Articles signed with the author’s name or signature do not necessarily represent the editor’s opinion. Unrequested manuscripts will only be returned if return postage is provided. The publisher requires that the author possesses copyright and rights for use of all constituents of the material submitted, namely also for pictures and tables, etc which are also submitted. With acceptance of the manuscript, the right to publication, translation, re-prints, electronic storage in databanks, additional printing, photocopying and microfiche copying is transferred to the publisher. The magazine and all its contributions and pictures are protected by copyright. All use beyond the limits established by the law on author’s copyright is not permitted without approval of the publisher.

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TECHNICAL MAGAZINE FOR THE ASIAN POLYURETHANES INDUSTRY


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Asian PU Digest is a technical agazine specifically for the Asian polyurethane industry, published with 4 issues per year. It reports on technical and application orientated topics relevant to PU processors and their suppliers. The agazine covers scientific and technical papers and features concerning raw aterials, application, easureent, and control techniques. It also provides arket reports and coverage of industry events relevant for the Asian arket.

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News

Industry News

China ends duties on TDI from the EU

According to a report by “PetroChemical News”, the Chinese Min-istry of Commerce (Mofcom) has decided to terminate anti-dump-ing duties on toluene diisocyanate (TDI) imported from the European Union (EU), effective from 13 March 2018. In 2013, the ministry decided to impose duties, ranging from 6.6 – 37.7 %, on TDI from the EU for a period of five years. Mofcom decided to lift the duties because representatives of the domestic TDI industry did not apply for an expiry review, the report said.

english.mofcom.gov.cn

Pidilite to buy majority stake in Cipy Polyurethanes

Pidilite Industries Limited announced that it will acquire a 70 % stake in equity shares of Cipy Polyurethanes Pvt. Ltd. for a price of Rs. 96.40 crores (~ EUR 12 million), subject to completion of cer-tain conditions precedent. Cipy was established in 1994 and is a

manufacturer of resin flooring and floor coatings made of polyure-thanes, epoxies, polyurea or polyaspartic polymers. The company achieved a turnover of Rs. 110.40 crores (~ EUR 13.7 million) for the year 2016 – 2017. Pidilite is a manufacturer of adhesives and sealants, construction chemicals, craftsmen products, DIY products, and polymer emulsions in India. Its products range also includes paint chemicals, automotive chemicals, art materials and stationery, fabric care, maintenance chemicals, industrial adhesives, industrial, textile resins and organic pigments and preparations.

www.cipypolyurethane.com

www.pidilite.com

Wacker opens plant for functional silicone fluids in India

Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (WMC) has expanded its existing silicone production at its Amtala site near Kolkata, India, with a new hydrosilylation plant for manufacturing functional silicone fluids. The plant with an annual capacity of over 6,000 t was officially opened on 20 March 2018. According to the company, the expansion is a response to growing regional demand for speciality silicones for

MEDIA KIT 2018

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1/2 page1 130 / 9 10 14 * / 10 97 *

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All advertisement prices are net prices.

Asian PU Digest is a technical agazine specifically for the Asian polyurethane industry, published with 4 issues per year. It reports on technical and application orientated topics relevant to PU processors and their suppliers. The agazine covers scientific and technical papers and features concerning raw aterials, application, easureent, and control techniques. It also provides arket reports and coverage of industry events relevant for the Asian arket.

Effective: 03 April 2018

Volume number 2 / 2018 · ISSN 2586-8713

Frequency of publication 4 issues/year

Digital + print run ,000 copies

Terms of payment Net 14 days after invoice date Precharging reserved

Right of withdrawal Only by special agreeent!

Additional conditions In case of changes in price the new conditions will be binding for all orders including running orders, unless other agreeents have been ade.The general ters and conditions for advertiseents, suppleents and online advertising are binding. They are available at: www.gupta-verlag.co/ters-and-conditions The data privacy policy is available at: www.gupta-verlag.co/privacy-policy

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On request, we will be pleased to prepare an individual offer for designing advertisements or creating special reprints.

Contact for advertisement:Julian Bäuer Tel. +49 10 934-1 E-ail [email protected]

Current Event Overview 2018

Note: In principle, editorial contributions about raw aterials, additives and nanoaterials, processing and quality assurance will be published in every issue.

Asian PU Digest 1 January

Asian PU Digest 2 April

Asian PU Digest 3 July

Asian PU Digest 4 October

Ad closing date 19 Deceber 017 03 March 01 01 June 01 31 August 01

Publication date January April July October

Even

ts

7 February – 01 MarchPolyurethane 01

Moscow, Russia

4 – 7 AprilChinaplas 01Shanghai, China

1 – 14 JulyIndia Mattresstech Epo 01

Chennai, India

tbaJEC Asia

tba

– 31 Marchinterzu GuangzhouGuangzhou, China

tbaPolyurethane 019

Moscow, Russia



use in the textile, personal-care, rigid and flexible polyurethane foam, and agrochemical sectors. In PU foams, e.g., for car interior trim and insulation materials, functional silicone fluids serve as additives for adjusting the cell structure. The investment for the plant amounted to around EUR 6 million. “With this expansion of our production, we are broadening our product portfolio and can thereby open up new markets in the growth regions of India and Southeast Asia,” said Christian Hartel, Executive Board member at Wacker Chemie AG.

www.wacker.com

Sabic acquires stake in Clariant

Sabic has acquired a 24.99 % equity stake in Clariant, previously held by the investors 40 North and White Tale (through Corvex Management). The acquisition makes Sabic the largest Clariant shareholder. The two companies are also partners in the catalyst joint venture Scientific Design. White Tale had previously prevented a proposed USD 20 billion merger of Clariant and Huntsman in 2017.

www.clariant.com · www.huntsman.com

www.sabic.com · www.standardindustries.com/40-north/

BASF to double MDI capacity in North America

BASF will start construction of a new MDI synthesis unit at its site in Geismar, LA, USA, in early Q2 2018. Planning and engineering started in 2016 and were completed at the end of January 2018. According to BASF, the plant is an important step to double its MDI capacity at the site from 300,000 t/y to close to 600,000 t/y in the medium term.

www.basf.com

Aston Martin and Dow continue partnership

Aston Martin and Dow have announced the continuation of their successful technical development partnership. For more than 25 years, Dow Automotive Systems has supplied Aston Martin models, such as the DB11 and the Vanquish, with structural adhesive solu-tions that facilitate multi-material lightweight constructions, while also offering structural strength and stiffness. According to Dow, its Beta-mate, Betaforce and Betaseal material solutions are able to meet broad industry needs and production processes. These customised adhesives meet a wide range of open time and cure time require-ments and bond a broad range of materials including electro-coated aluminium and steel, anodised aluminium, carbon fibre and glass fibre reinforced composites as well as glazing applications.

www.astonmartin.com · www.dow.com

Aston Martin DB11

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Global PU market worth USD 56.76 billion by 2021

According to Markets and Markets, the global PU market is project-ed to reach USD 56.76 billion by 2021 at a CAGR of 5.6 %. The growing middle class with increasing disposable incomes as well as the rising urbanisation supplemented by investments in infrastructure are said to be the main drivers. PU flexible foam is estimated to remain the largest product segment till 2021. Beddings, automotive interiors and footwear are said to be the main applications for flexible foams. A major driver in the flexible foam market is the use of memory foam in bedding. Driven by the growing automotive industry, the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to remain the largest PU market in terms of value and volume. (“Polyurethane Market by Raw Material (MDI, TDI, Polyols), Product (Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants, Flexible & Rigid Foams, Elas-tomers), End User (Building & Construction, Automotive & Transporta-tion, Bedding & Furniture) – Global Forecast to 2021”.

www.marketsandmarkets.com

Sonderhoff further grows in China

Sonderhoff (Suzhou) Sealing Systems Co. Ltd., part of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, is a leading supplier of formed in-place (FIP) sealing technology in China. At Chinaplas 2018, the system supplier of ma-chines, materials and process automation will exhibit in hall 2H, stand 2J85. Customers will see a broad selection of two-component foam sealing, gluing and potting systems based on polyurethane or sili-cone. For the automated FIP material application, customers use Sonderhoff’s two- and multi-component mixing and dosing systems. The company has laid the foundation for further growth with its own polyurethane material production in Suzhou and the expansion of contract manufacturing for the foam sealing, gluing and potting of customer components. Its spectrum ranges from individual sampling of prototypes to small series up to serial production. The Chinese subsidiary of Sonderhoff is located in the Singapore Indus-trial Park in Suzhou. The company has developed very well in the Chinese market since its founding in 2009 as a specialist in formed in-place (FIP) sealing technology. With the takeover of Sonderhoff by Henkel half a year ago, the prospects for further growth in China have improved even further.

www.sonderhoff.com


Technology and Products

TPU films for individual and functional car cockpits

TPU films find a wide range of possible applications in car interiors. Platilon TPU films from Covestro are present although not always visible in many parts of the car interior, such as textile laminates from

roller blinds for sunroofs, as air chambers for lumbar supports of car seats or as foam shrouds for noise reduction components. A new promising application is the so-called flexible electronics. The elastic TPU films are equipped by film processors with electronic functions such as traces or sensor elements. LEDs can also be integrated. The resulting film build-ups can be formed into geometrically highly com-plex decorative parts that provide lighting effects. Flexible electronics based on TPU films could be used in electric ve-hicles for panel heating of large surface areas in car interiors and could replace the expensive exhaust air heating of traditional com-bustion engines. With their flexibility and good adhesion to textiles, TPU films offer a chance of integrating the required conductor path electronics into door panels, for example.

www.covestro.com

Trends such as autonomous driving, networking and individualisation pose en-tirely new challenges, but also offer great opportunities for the use of TPU films.

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Reverdia’s bio-succinic acid granted Halal and Kosher certifications

Reverdia announced that it has been awarded Halal and Kosher certifications for its Biosuccinium S grade of bio-succinic acid. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America granted Kosher certification to the speciality grade, which is pro-

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People in the Newsduced in Reverdia’s Cassano production plant in Italy. The Halal certification has been approved by the Halal Correct Certification Foundation based in Leiden, Netherlands. Biosuccinium S is also registered under the Ecocert “Natural and Organic Cosmetics” standard as 100 % natural origin. The product is an active ingredi-ent for health and beauty products. Consumer applications down the value chain include personal care and pharmaceuticals through to food and flavours.

www.ecocert.com

www.halalcorrect.com

www.reverdia.com

www.ou.org

Tool technology for cable foaming

Frimo announced that it has developed special tools and machines for cable foaming. This involves full cable harnesses that are in-stalled in every vehicle in large volumes and sealed to the outer areas with polyurethane. According to the company, the actual chal-lenge lies within the process of sealing the cables to the foam part. For this purpose, Frimo has developed a special sealing process – a so-called “carabiner-closure”. The closure squeezes the cable, which keeps the foam from coming out of the tool. Se-ries tools for cable foaming are made completely out of steel and are finally verified and tested at Frimo. Checks are carried out on especially critical components in or-der to ensure that they display the ap-propriate sealing and foaming be-haviour. Foam is appl ied us ing a special film gate, through which the PU is injected into the closed tool by hand. The foam fill weight and corresponding tool and sys-tem sizes vary from about 20 g for small components to 150 – 200 g for larger components. With the PURe Mix Eco, Frimo offers a PU high-pressure metering machine for processing all stan-dard unfilled two-component systems. It offers precise metering with simple, low-maintenance manual or automatic operation. For manual operation, as with cable foaming, the hand bracket is de-signed with an especially large working radius.

www.frimo.com

Series tools for cable foaming are made completely out of steel

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Jon M. Huntsman dies at age 80

Jon M. Huntsman, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Huntsman Corporation, passed away on 2 February 2018 at his home in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. He was a pioneer in the chemical industry, having founded the Huntsman Container Company in 1970 and was the initial predeces-sor to what is to-d a y k n o w n a s Huntsman Corpora-tion. In 1974, he created the “clam-shell” container for fast-food sandwich-es and went on to invent as many as 30 other popular products, including the f i rst p last ic plates and bowls. In 1982, he formed Huntsman Chemical Corporation in Salt Lake City. While serving as its Chair-man and CEO, he led the company through constant g row th . Today, Huntsman and Venator Corporation, a public subsidiary of the com-pany, together represent an USD 11 billion global manufacturer and marketer of chemicals. In December 2017, the Board of Directors of Huntsman named Jon M. Huntsman Director and Chairman Emer-itus, and elected his son, Peter R. Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO.

www.huntsman.com

Jon M. Huntsman was also a philanthropist, and his mission was to find a cure for cancer and alleviate its ravaging effects on mankind. In 1995, he contributed USD 100 million to es-tablish the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a pioneer in genetic research and treatment and today one of the world’s most renowned cancer institutes and hospitals, located in Salt Lake City. The Huntsman Cancer Foundation, whose sole purpose is to raise funds to support the mission of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, is accepting donations in Jon M. Huntsman’s memory.

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Jon M. Huntsman


Date City Organisers E-mail Website

Chinaplas 2018 24 – 27 Apr 2018 Shanghai, China Adsale Exhibition Services Limited [email protected] www.chinaplasonline.com

4th CAR-Symposium China 25 – 26 Apr 2018 Beijing, China D+S Automotive GmbH [email protected] www.car-symposium.com

5th Omanplast 2018 07 – 09 May 2018 Muscat, Oman Silver Star Corporation L.L.C. [email protected] www.silverstaroman.com

Complast Myanmar 2018 10 – 12 May 2018 Yangon, Myanmar Enterprising Fairs (India) Pvt. Ltd. (EFIPL) [email protected] complastexpo.in/myan-mar2018/

ProPak Asia 2018 13 – 16 Jun 2018 Bangkok, Thailand UBM Allworld [email protected] www.propakasia.com

Complast Kenya 2018 28 – 30 Jun 2018 Nairobi, Kenya Smart Expos & Fairs (India) Pvt. Ltd. (SEFIPL) [email protected] complastexpo.in/kenya2018/

ProPak China 2018 11 – 13 Jul 2018 Shanghai, China UBM Allworld [email protected] www.propakchina.com/en/

India Mattresstech Expo 2018 12 – 14 Jul 2018 Chennai, India Unitech Exhibitions Pvt Ltd. [email protected] indiamattressexpo.com

PU China 2018 01 – 03 Aug 2018 Shanghai, China Crain Communications Ltd. [email protected] www.puchina.eu

Complast Sri Lanka 2018 10 – 12 Aug 2018 Colombo, Sri Lanka Enterprising Fairs (India) Pvt. Ltd. (EFIPL) [email protected] www.complastexpo.in

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Engineering Passion

Leading experts for leading solutionsRethinking lightweight construction/composites

www.kraussmaffei.com/experts

Philipp Zimmermann, your KraussMaffei expert for

lightweight construction/composites

Chinaplas, hall 2H, booth T01

KM_Anz_Leadership_Zimmermann_EN+m_210x148+3.indd 1 01.03.18 11:44

Events More on www.gupta-verlag.com/events/polyurethanes


Worldwide sales by car manufacturers will increase by 2.2 % to 87.3 mil-lion passenger cars in 2018. Growth in the global automotive market will thus continue to slow down, although the global economy will grow at a faster rate of 3.7 % in 2018 than in previous years, according to the latest forecasts of the OECD (Economic Outlook, Nov. 2017). The rea-sons for the divergent growth rates between the global economy (gross national product GDP) and the global automotive market are largely due to regional factors. New vehicles and product innovations will not trigger any extraordinary increases in demand on the global automotive market in 2018. In addition, a “manageable” range of Euro 6d diesel models is slowing Europe down. Today’s Euro 6 models are loaded with high NOx emissions during normal operation and are therefore left out of the equa-tion by buyers in 2018. Once again, German premium manufacturers are stronger developing than the world market. Worldwide sales of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche are estimated to increase by 4.5 % in 2018, while the global passenger car market will only grow by 2.2 %.

Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer

[email protected]

Director, CAR – Center Automotive Research

Chair of General Business Administration and

Automotive Economics, University of Duisburg-

Essen, Germany

www.uni-due.de/car/

All figures and tables, unless otherwise stated, have

been kindly provided by the author.

Global automotive market slows down in 2018

China remains growth engine

F. Dudenhöffer

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1 Product innovations according to usual pattern: Europe curbed by Diesel

Product innovations will follow the traditional pattern in 2018, so that an extraordinary additional demand driven by product innovations is not expected this year. Although, according to the latest OECD fore-casts, in 2018 the global economy will grow at a faster rate of 3.7 % than in previous years, growth in the global automotive market will continue to weaken (fig. 1 and 2). Important new vehicles of Euro-pean auto makers in 2018 are:

• Audi A6 (July)• BMW 3 Series (October)• Ford Focus (September)• Jaguar E-Pace (small new SUV in January)• Mercedes A-Class (May and November with additional limousine)• Opel Insignia and Grandland variants• Peugeot 508 (May)• Renault Clio (October) and Dacia Duster (February)• Volvo XC 40 (March) and V60 (September)• VW Touareg (July)

Although the product range will be broadened with the Jaguar E-Pace and several other additional SUV models, the demand due to product innovations will remain “manageable”. This also applies to the new editions, such as the Audi A6 or BMW 3 Series, so that business as usual can be expected here, too. Even though the first non-Tesla electric cars with a range of 500 km will be launched in 2018 with the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-Pace, the volumes will remain very manageable.

On the negative side, the range of diesel models with the new Euro 6d emission stan dard remains manageable. In normal opera-tion, Euro 6d diesel engines meet the NOx limits and are thus a safeguard against driving bans. Overall, a limited range of Euro 6d diesel models will be available in 2018 in Europe. The manageable diesel supply slows down demand. Purchases are shifted to a future point in time.

Larger product innovations can be expected in 2019. Then shortfalls in the supply of electric cars and Euro 6d diesel will be reduced. This means that there will be better conditions for “product-induced” growth in 2019.

2 Regional growth patterns: Asia main growth driver, USA in decline

The strongest growth in 2018 in the automo-tive market can be expected again in Asia. According to our forecast (fig. 3), the Asian market will sell just under 1.6 million more passenger cars in 2018 than in 2017 – an increase of 4.4 %. A total of 38.15 million new cars will be sold in Asia in the year 2018 (tab. 1). This corresponds to 44 % of all new vehicles sold worldwide. Asia is dom-inated by China, which accounts for more than two-thirds of new car sales in Asia in 2018.

While Asia and China will continue to fuel the global automotive market in 2018, the weak-er US automotive market is slowing down the North American region. Despite a slight increase in economic growth of 2.5 % in the USA (tab. 2), the US automotive market will remain below 2017 levels this year, meaning that the entire North American market region will also be in the red. In recent years, the US vehicle fleet has been significantly rejuve-nated, driven by high discounts, favourable consumer loans and financing. In a saturated US automotive market, with a younger vehi-

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Fig. 2: World passenger car market


cle fleet, signs of fatigue will become apparent. The demand will fall and the declining USA will pull down the complete North American market region.

3 China remains growth engine of global automotive business

China remains the growth engine of the global automotive market. Overall, passenger car sales in China will increase by 4.5 % to 25.75 million new cars in 2018 (tab. 3). More than 50 % of the global automotive market growth in 2018 comes from China. The Chinese market benefits from continued good economic growth at 6.6 %, according to the latest OECD forecast from November 2017 (tab. 2). The Chinese car market is still receptive despite the large number of vehicles in the megacities. There are cur-rently more than 125 million cars on China’s roads. For every 1,000 inhabitants there are 90 cars in China. In comparison, the car density in Japan is 485 cars per 1,000 inhabitants and in Germany 550. These comparisons illustrate that the Chinese car market is far from saturated, even though congested roads and traffic jams are persistent problems in the giant cities of China. So the year 2018 will not be the end of the Chinese growth story for the automotive sector.

The Chinese cleverly use the size of their domestic market to establish technology trends. In China, electro mobility is at the forefront of innovation. 490,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids were sold in China in the first ten months in 2017, an increase of 45 % over the previous year. With an electric car quota of 10 % in 2019, more than 2.6 million electric cars and plug-in hybrids will be sold. The pace is enormously high, and China is setting this pace to dominate world’s automotive industry also from the tech-nology side.

4 India overtakes Germany in 2018

In addition to China, Asia’s growth is clearly characterised by India. The Indian car market is now the world’s fifth-largest car market, with an expected 3.2 million new car sales in 2017 (tab. 3). As early as 2018, India will see more cars sold than Germany. With ex-pected 3.5 million passenger car sales in 2018, India is moving up to fourth place in the ranking of the world’s largest car mar-kets.

Growth in India rests on two pillars: firstly, the low density of 25 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants and secondly, the coun-

try’s high economic growth. According to OECD forecasts, India is expected to see GDP growth of 7.0 % in 2018. At the same time, this is the largest economic growth among the 15 largest automobile markets in the world.

5 Nearly zero growth in Western Europe – Germany with decline

The car markets in Western Europe are developing at a signifi-cantly slower pace, with growth of just 0.3 % (tab. 1). The USA and Western Europe will paralyse the automobile market in 2018. In Germany, despite an expected moderate economic growth of 2.3 % in 2018, more than 100,000 fewer new cars will be sold than in 2017. The main reason for this is due to rebates and high diesel premiums artificially inflated German automobile market in 2017.

By early summer at the latest, we expect a decline in the histori-cally high discounts on the German car market and thus a slump in sales. New car sales in Germany, that were loudly acclaimed by the associations, will hit car manufacturers in 2018. The German dis-count bubble will burst by mid-2018 at the latest. Declining car

Source: CAR University Duisburg-Essen

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LatinAmerica

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Fig. 3: Regional growth 2018 (sales in 1,000 vehicles)

Region 2016 2017 2018* Diff. ‘18/‘17

Western Europe 13,984 14,277 14,319 42 (0.3 %)

Eastern EU-countries 1,146 1,272 1,337 65 (5.1 %)

Eastern Europe 1,653 1,809 2,022 213 (11.8 %)

North America 21,088 20,825 20,609 –216 (–1.0 %)

Latin America 4,071 4,337 4,484 146 (3.4 %)

Asia 34,927 36,560 38,155 1,595 (4.4 %)

Rest of world 6,270 6,337 6,407 70 (1.1 %)

Global 83,140 85,416 87,334 1,917 (2.2 %)

*Forecast

Tab. 1: Regional passenger car markets (sales in 1,000 vehicles)


sales are expected in the markets of Germany, UK, Belgium, Den-mark, and Sweden in 2018. The German discount bubble, Brexit effects, and boom-like developments in Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden in recent years are the reasons for the downward trend. In addition, growth is slowing in France, Italy, and Spain. For the year 2018, this means that margins in Western Europe can be expected to decline and competition in the automobile market may become fiercer. The attractiveness of the Western Europe market region continues to decline.

6 Highest proportional growth in eastern EU countries

In contrast to weak Western Europe, the new car market in some of the eastern EU countries is favored by high economic growth and low vehicle densities. In these countries the growth story for the automotive sector still lays ahead, in Western Europe the fu-ture will be a “cut-throat competition”. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia are driving growth in the year 2018.

7 Russia with low level growth spurt

In the east, Russia is the growth driver. The Russian automotive market is recovering from its deep recession following the introduc-tion of the sanctions. The 1.9 % growth in the Russian economy allows catch-up processes in the market to be further expanding. German and Chinese car manufacturers are expanding their Russian production. Due to high import duties, a strong sales position in

Russia requires local production. Table 3 shows that, with 1.77 mil-lion new car sales in 2018, Russia is still lagging far behind the previous growth years. Nearly 3 million new cars were sold in Rus-sia in 2012. At that time, everyone spoke of the target market Russia with 5 million new car sales per year. Thus, the Russian car market still has “a lot of room for improvement”. Therefore, it makes sense to reinvest in capacity building with suppliers and carmakers in Russia.

Similar to Russia, the Brazilian car market – also crisis-ridden – is recovering in 2018. However, South America and thus Brazil remains a very cyclical market region. One of the car managers’ experiences is that “Brazil has been playing yo-yo for the last 30 years”.

8 Conclusion: Classic car regions lose influence more quickly

In 2018, the pace of change is accelerating. It is not only a techno-logical change from internal combustion engine to electric drive, from driver-oriented to robot-oriented cars, from one’s own car to a vehicle as a mobility instrument, but also a change in the importance of the different automotive nations. It is no longer the USA, Western Europe and Japan – the old triad markets – that describe the business, but Asia (without Japan) and Eastern Europe are expanding their position at high speed. 2018 will be a year in which technological change and the transformation of market regions will be accelerated. And 2018 will be a year of transition to electro mobility, where China – as home base – worldwide will set the pace in drive technology. The small diesel island of Europe will be shrinking.

Tab. 3: Top 15 passenger car markets (sales in 1,000 vehicles) Tab. 2: GDP growth in % (Source: OECD, Nov. 2017)

Rank Country 2016 2017 2018*

1 China 23,693 24,641 25,750

2 USA 17,539 17,188 16,930

3 Japan 4,147 4,437 4,459

4 Germany 3,352 3,492 3,388

5 India 2,967 3,248 3,541

6 UK 2,693 2,558 2,507

7 Brasil 1,989 2,128 2,192

8 France 2,015 2,072 2,113

9 Canada 1,948 2,035 2,045

10 Italy 1,825 1,935 1,993

11 Mexico 1,602 1,602 1,634

12 Russia 1,426 1,568 1,772

13 South Korea 1,534 1,564 1,619

14 Spain 1,147 1,204 1,277

15 Australia 1,145 1,145 1,156

World 83,140 85,416 87,334

*Forecast

Rank Country 2017 2018*

1 China 6.8 6.6

2 USA 2.2 2.5

3 Japan 1.5 1.2

4 Germany 2.5 2.3

5 India 6.7 7.0

6 UK 1.5 1.2

7 Brasil 0.7 1.9

8 France 1.8 1.8

9 Canada 3.0 2.1

10 Italy 1.6 1.5

11 Mexico 2.4 2.2

12 Russia 1.9 1.9

13 South Korea 3.2 3.0

14 Spain 3.1 2.3

15 Australia 2.5 2.8

World 3.6 3.7

*Forecast


The Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach (FHDW) regularly analyses the sales developments and trends in the field of electro mobility in key automotive markets as well as innovations of car manufacturers. Since 2005, the CAM examines sales trends and overall conditions in relevant countries as well as technological innovations of more than 30 car groups. Over 10,000 innovations are currently inventoried in the CAM “Inno-database”. Each individual innovation is systematically evaluated and weighted according to the M.O.B.IL approach (maturity level, originality, benefit for customer, innovation level). The innovation strength of an automobile manufacturer is calculated from the sum of the weighted innovations. The following report presents the results of a CAM study that analysed the current market trends and product strategies of global automakers in the period from January to December 2017.

E-mobility: Annual balance 2017 of sales trends in important global automotive markets

China is the world's leading market for electric vehicles with strong growth


The global electro mobility will continue to be determined by the leading market China, which is experiencing strong growth. The gap to the second largest market, the USA, has widened consider-ably. In the full year of 2017, 777,000 electric cars were sold in China (new energy vehicles, including fuel cells, commercial vehi-cles and buses) (fig. 1). Electric vehicle sales were thus 53 % higher than in the same period last year. If a distinction is made in terms of sales between passenger cars and commercial vehi-

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Fig. 1: Sales trends for electric cars (BEV, PHEV) in selected markets 2017/2016

cles, 579,000 and 198,000 vehicles, respectively, fall into the two categories. The market share of e-vehicles is increasing to 2.7 % of new registrations (2016: 1.8 %) (fig. 2). In particular, the number of purely electrically powered vehicles (battery electric vehicles = BEVs) has increased and remains at 652,000 units (84 %) far higher than the number of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), which at 125,000 units (16 %) are growing by 28 %. In the case of pas-senger cars, it is mainly the small, low-cost electric vehicles, such as the BAIC EC Series, which are sold at rapid speed. At the same time, the demand for e-buses and e-commercial vehicles is also increasing not only as a result of government pressure on mu-nicipal undertakings, whereby e-mobility is increasingly shaping the street scene. This is the result of a study by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), which regularly analyses the cur-rent market trends and product strategies of global automobile manufacturers.

“China continues to play a steadfast and dynamic role as the global driving force behind e-mobility. However, the decisive factor for these strategies is less air pollution control. Rather, industrial-political motives play a major role, such as the independence from oil imports and the development of globally active automobile manufacturers and suppliers with electrical competence from China,” said CAM Director and Principal Investigator Stefan Bratzel.

In the USA, new registrations of electric cars rose by 24 % in 2017. More than 194,000 electric vehicles were sold in 2017 (fig. 1), with 104,487 battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) sold (+24 %). The market leader is Tesla, whose S and X models ac-count for more than half (46 %) of the sales, followed by the Chev-rolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf. Compared to the previous year, plug-in hybrids increased by 23 %, mainly due to increases of the Toyota Prius.

In Europe, Norway continued to play a spe-cial role and reached at the end of 2017 more than 62,300 electric vehicles (+39 %) (fig. 1). As a result, the market share of electric vehicles rose to 39.3 % of new reg-istrations (2016: 29.1 %) (fig. 2). Due to financial advantages such as the omission of VAT, import tax and motor vehicle tax, elec-tric vehicles in Norway are often cheaper than the equivalent with an internal combus-tion engine. However, sales are growing faster than the expansion of the loading in-frastructure, which is why the local electric car association sounded the alarm in Sep-tember.

The increasing discussions about driving bans also provided for the first time in Germany a


strong revival of electric vehicle sales. In 2017, 54,492 electric vehi-cles (+117 %) were sold (fig. 1), doubling their market share from 0.8 % to 1.6 % (fig. 2). Sales of plug-in hybrids were significantly higher, rising to 29,436 units (+114 %), while pure electric vehicles rose to 25,056 units (+120 %). A total of 46,897 applications were submitted to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) from January to 31 December 2017. Thereof, 19,664 applica-tions were for plug-in hybrids and 27,217 for BEVs. The manufacturers with the most applications were BMW, VW, and Renault.

By contrast, the diesel engine suffered a significant decline in sales volume in 2017 and had a market share of only 38.8 % (2016: 45.9 %). In December 2017, only 33.4 % of diesel vehicles were registered. By contrast, vehicle buyers increasingly opted for gaso-line-powered engines, whose market share of new registrations rose to 57.7 % (2016: 52.1 %). Other types of propulsion such as liquefied petroleum gas (+47.2 %) and natural gas (+14.9 %) also benefited from the drop in sales of diesel.

“Due to the shifts in the propulsion sector and the further increase in sales of SUVs, it will be difficult for some car manufacturers to achieve the CO2 reduction targets of 95 g of CO2 per km by 2021. Manufacturers are faced with the alternative of accepting high fines and a corresponding loss of image or to push electric vehicles with lower CO2 emissions into the market and, if necessary, foregoing the usual profit margins,” said Bratzel.

The United Kingdom also increased its elec-tric vehicle sales and sold more than 47,200 units, 27 % more than in the previous year (fig. 1). Plug-in hybrids accounted for 71 % of sales, 29 % of which were pure electric vehicles. The latter grew by 33 % to over 13,500 units. In France, new electric car registrations also increased significantly to 36,778 units (+26 %). Unlike the UK, BEVs accounted for 68 % of electric vehicle sales, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 32 %. The number of full hybrids (HEV) also rose by 40 % to 81,547 new registrations. Similar to Germany, the diesel country France showed a strong decrease in new registrations of diesel vehicles to 47 % (2016: 52 %). On the other hand, sales of electric vehicles rose to around 37,000 units, increasing its market share to 1.7 %. BEVs accounted for 68 %. Due to the high level of air pollution, there has been a heated debate in Paris over the

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past few months about plans to ban diesel vehicles from entering the market, which has led to a further increase in uncertainty among car buyers.

In the Netherlands, subsidies for plug-in hybrids expired at the end of 2016, so that demand for these vehicles had previously increased as a result of the deadweight effect. This explained the sharp decline in elec-trical sales from 60 % to 9,191 vehicles in 2017 (2016: 23,114). If BEVs are considered separately, sales have increased by 51 % in 2017.

Electric mobility development trends until 2030 Zero emission rate

In the next years electric mobility will only be able to achieve moder-ate growth rates in major automotive markets. However, on the

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Fig. 2: Market shares of electric cars (BEV, PHEV) in key automotive markets 2017/2016


basis of a scenario analysis, CAM anticipates a significant increase in market dynamics at the beginning of the 2020s. This is due to the massive product efforts of manufacturers and the expected regulatory environment in central automotive countries. For Ger-many and the EU, an exponential increase in the sale of electric cars is to be expected from 2020 onwards, as the OEMs will have to meet the CO2 targets and penalties should be prevented. The com-paratively low market shares at present should not obscure the fact that a massive upheaval of drive technologies is imminent in the next 10 to 15 years.

Based on CAM scenarios, global new registrations of electric vehi-cles will increase only moderately until 2020 and will range be-tween 2.5 % (conservatively) and 6 % (optimistically) (fig. 3). How-ever, based on a broad-based product offensive by global manu-facturers and an improved charging infrastructure, a massive growth of the electric mobility market can be expected. In the op-timistic scenario, around 25 % or 25 million newly registered elec-tric cars are expected in 2025 (conservatively: 12 %). These could then rise to 40 % or around 40 million electrically powered cars by 2030 (conservatively: 25 %). Nevertheless, at least 60 % of new registrations would still be equipped with an internal combustion engine (fig. 3).

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Stefan [email protected] Center of Automotive Management (CAM), Bergisch Gladbach, Germanywww.auto-institut.de

The trend curves are based on assumptions about developments in the political-regulatory environment and the comparative competitive advantages of electric mobility compared with the combustion en-gine. In particular, production costs for gasoline and diesel vehicles are expected to rise significantly in the next few years as environmen-tal regulations become more stringent. At the same time, the costs for (pure) electric vehicles will be significantly reduced, in particular through lower battery cell costs per kWh, and technological innova-tions especially in terms of range and charging time will increase customer benefits. The prerequisite for the scenarios is also a cor-responding density of (fast) charging infrastructures in the core mar-kets of China, Europe and the USA.

In Songjiang, China, Lubrizol held a ribbon cutting ceremony shortly before the Chinese New Year to unveil a new compounding line and new extrusion lines. The compounding line commenced production in Q1 2018, adding capability to produce customised, functional TPU and elastomer compounds, with sufficient capacity to enable near term growth. In addition, the company announced that a new reactive extrusion line will come onstream in the second half of 2018, which is expected to increase TPU production capacity in Songjiang by nearly 40 %. According to the company, 2018 marks the fourth ma-jor expansion in Songjiang since the plant first produced TPU in the early 2000’s. Recognising the potential of the Chinese market, Lu-brizol said it was the first foreign company to invest in local TPU production. Further investment is planned in Asia in 2019.

Jane Cai, regional business director, Lubrizol Engineered Polymers, said: “Through our fast product development, expanded manufactur-ing capabilities and local partnerships, Lubrizol is well positioned to tailor products to the specific needs of our customers’ end use ap-plications and processes. Recent new product launches, including the

Lubrizol has announced an update to its global expansion programme supporting its Engineered Polymers thermoplastics polyurethane business and growing global demand for its Estane TPU, Pearlthane TPU, Pearlbond TPU, and other product lines. The programme is said to comprise multi-million-dollar expansions, with a combined investment of nearly USD 80 million.

Lubrizol expands global TPU capacities

Estane SKN range for consumer electronics and Estane TRX pro-vide unique performance properties. Now we can give our customers even greater design flexibility to help drive their product differentia-tion.”

Furthermore, the company announced that it is adding TPU capacity and compounding capabilities in every major region of the world. Multiple staged investments and expansions are underway at its fa-cilities in Oevel, Belgium, Montmelo, Spain, and Avon Lake, OH, USA. In North America, the company is adding new production capabilities, expanded raw material storage, warehouse space and improved site logistics. With the latest investment, new capacity is expected to come onstream later in 2018. In Europe, the company is extending production capabilities for elastomers, aliphatics and adhesives. These expansions build on the acquisition of Merquinsa in 2011, and improvements to R&D laboratories in 2016. A next major Euro-pean expansion is planned for 2019, said Lubrizol.

www.lubrizol.com


The Spray Foam Alliance of India (SFAI)

The India Insulation Forum (IIF), a diverse body of all modern insulation firms, is the only government-recognized body of insulation industry that works closely with all stakeholders through its Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai chapters.

However, in order to seize the opportunities being created by the IIF and to create a standard-setter to provide safe and sustainable growth of the polyurethane contribution to this national need of build-ing energy efficiency, a strategic step was taken to form the Spray Foam Alliance of India (SFAI) by the system houses in India. The for-mal launch of the SFAI took place in May 2016 in Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) has unique advantages which are very well suited for a country like India that is struggling to provide a strong business case for insulation. The biggest advantage of insula-tion is that air sealing and building structural stability is achieved in one stroke.

Skilling: The vital cog

The lack of skilled workforce is one of the biggest impediments in the adoption of SPF. It creates a vicious circle wherein companies which need skilled workforce are unable to secure them from the markets. At the same time, companies with skilled workforce face difficulties in retaining skilled manpower. Thus, skill development for SPF is the vital cog in the wheel which we realized should not be left in the hands of a handful of ill-informed enterprises, which mostly lack training capabilities; especially, on the safety of worker as well as product.

Thus, the consortium with collaboration of system suppliers as well as the involvement of chemistry and technology ensured safe and proper use of SPF to transform the insulation landscape of the country.

In the initiative, Isaac Emmanuel of Covestro India emerged as the torchbearer. He started obtaining the core information of the similar ini-tiative from colleagues in the USA, the Spray Polyurethane Foam Asso-ciation (SPFA), which is a pioneering example in the spray polyurethane business. He noted that the coalition in the USA was formed as a reactive

Building insulation is a neglected domain in most parts of India and the Indian Polyurethane Association (IPUA) took a positive step towards addressing the issues constructively by aligning with the rest of the insulation indus-try in 2013 to form the India Insulation Forum (IIF).

Spray foam alliance of India – a strategic initiative of the IPUA

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response to the safety issues that had crept into the market. In case of India, however, it was clear that the right approach was to be proactive.

With the collective efforts of leading and responsible companies of the subject – BASF, Covestro, Dow, Expanded Polymer Systems -- with sup-port from Graco, Manali Petro and Huntsman, gave shape to the various topics under SPF. These included application chemistry, safety and health, retrofit and troubleshooting, equipment and application. Conse-quently, to accelerate the implementation of thermal insulation in the building and cold storage sector through promotion, practice, product stewardship and proliferation, a charter was consensually developed.

Comprehensive training manual

A comprehensive training manual (along with the training modules) was prepared that was made available in printed as well as digital format on a website [1]. The manual not only educates the novice but imparts training on building the knowledge on energy efficiency and architecture aspects. The following topics are covered by the manual:

• Why insulation? The reasons behind using insulation• Insulation and its relation to architecture• Growing acknowledgement of the benefits of SPF among the

practitioners• The chemistry and application process of SPF• Retrofitting SPF• Health and safety aspects

First training program at NCL Innovation Park

Both the manual and the website were launched in the presence of an august audience from industry and allied sectors. It was closely followed with hosting the first training program at NCL Innovation Park in Pune, India. The program saw attendance from 17 participants from not just insulation area but also from waterproofing community, which is an important component in the SFAI’s target audience.

The event also witnessed participation from leading names of the in-dustry such as Lee Salamone, Senior Director of the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry, American Chemistry Council, USA, and Neeva Candelori from Covestro Hong Kong, who heads the PU Advocacy. Both of them along with senior management of Prime-Seal of Dubai brought in a global vantage point and perspective on the matter.

The road ahead

Ultimately, the SFAI is looking at the creation of a community of certi-fied spray foam applicators with global and local support to ensure an energy secure India through spray polyurethane foam. Within a short span of less than 18 months, it conducted training programs almost every quarter in different locations of the country including Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Indore and Chennai. Cumulatively, it im-parted training to more than 100 applicators and students of engi-neering and architecture.

SFAI continues to collaborate with diverse industry bodies, including the Global Cold Chain Alliance for retrofitting of cold stores, as well as with machine manufacturers at their premises, and with architec-ture schools to embed the discussions on SPF as part of its sustain-ability curriculum.

SFAI is looking to quadruple the system sales volumes through 2020. This looks very plausible given the multifarious government initiatives for “Smart Cities and Affordable Housing”, and increased thrust on eco-sensitive technologies that reduce carbon emissions. Besides, in 2018, a plan is in place to initiate a certification program to be able eventually to present to the government a list of qualified spray foamers.

Indeed, SFAI is a journey well begun.

[1] www.sprayfoamallianceofindia.com

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“Investment Opportunities for the Polyurethanes Industry in the Islamic Republic of Iran” by Labyrinth Research and Markets Ltd. is a multi-client study, based on in-depth research and interviews in the PU industry. The infor-mation presented will be useful to managers working in Iran, buyers sourcing parts from Iran, suppliers of raw materials and equipment, strategic planners and companies considering investing in Iran.

Investment Opportunities for the PU Industry in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Market study by Labyrinth Research and Markets

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Although the current status of the Iranian PU industry is in decline due to sanctions, the potential to develop the country into a regional hub, once economic and financial restrictions are lifted, is significant. Over-all, Iran has the potential to more than double its use of polyurethanes and equal Turkey’s consumption. Iran is known for its oil and petro-chemical industry but in other respects is comparable to Turkey in size and industrial capability. Recent estimates suggest that PU pro-duction declined during the current Iranian year to just over 125,000 t, but with investment production could easily reach 200,000 t within the next 4 – 5 years.

“Overall, the Iranian economy can be seen as similar to the Turkish economy plus oil but minus political stability. If Iran can be reinte-grated into the world economy and stability restored, it is possible that Iran’s polyurethane demand can easily double to approach that of Turkey,” Angela Austin, Director of Labyrinth Research & Markets Ltd, explained. Unlike other ‘frontier economies’, Iran al-ready has sufficient manufacturing capacity in most sectors from the pre-sanction era to meet demand in the near future. There are at least 70 – 80 polyurethane processors established in Iran—“ready to go.” The main difficulty facing the PU industry is access to money for working capital and raw materials. This will be eased with the lifting of sanctions in 2016 and investors will be able to supply financing until the economy can start functioning on a more normal basis. Opportunities exist for the full range of PU raw ma-terials and equipment in almost all market segments. Iran would also benefit from foreign technology to continuously improve pro-duction economics and quality. One consequence of the sanctions is that Asian—notably Chinese and Korean—PU suppliers are well implanted in Iran as most Western and Japanese suppliers left under the US lead sanct ions aga ins t I ran ’s nuc lear programme.

The report gives three strategic drivers to consider Iran as a growth market:

• Political: The international community will actively support the re-integration of the country into the world economy. A strong Iran is required for the future stability of the Middle East region. The agreement on Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear technology provided a key foundation of this policy.

• Economic: Iran will benefit from its own new sources of cash which, if used wisely, can help to reconstruct the economy. Iran has substantial oil and mineral revenues. It has overseas assets that will be released post-sanctions.

• Future opportunities: Iran is attractive because of its domestic market and as a Middle East/South West Asia manufacturing hub.

These strategic drivers need to be balanced by some risk factors associated with Iran:

• Regional stability: Maintaining regional political and economic sta-bility.

• International support: Iran being welcomed back into world trade.• Income from oil: Concerns on the pricing of hydrocarbons cast

doubt on the size of potential revenues streams.• Structural reforms: Iran is on a long economic journey as an Is-

lamic State.• Business environment: Iran lies in the bottom quartile of most

indices on corruption.

Overall, the range of economic forecasts for Iran is, naturally, quite large given the uncertainties involved. The World Bank foresees a recovery driven by oil production over the next 2 – 3 years with GDP growth in the range of 5 – 7 %. The Iranian five year plan targets 8 % growth.

For the polyurethanes-related markets, some additional factors to consider are:

• Future raw material advantages: Growth in raw material production in the region will support Iran’s PU industry, especially the Sadara highly integrated production complex in Saudi Arabia belonging to Dow and Saudi Aramco.

• International competition: Asian raw material suppliers, conver-tors and end users have a strong foothold as they maintained a market presence during the sanctions, benefiting from the exit of Western companies. Western companies will, however, try to re-enter Iran.

PU markets which are most likely to benefit in the immediate post-sanctions period include automotive and infrastructure projects relat-ing to oil and gas. In particular, PU will be needed for cryogenic insu-lation associated with the country’s plans to build new 4 LNG termi-nals. There is also potential demand for PU binders from the compos-ite wood panel industry as well as demand from the well-established markets of residential and commercial insulation, furniture and bed-ding, footwear and protective coatings.

The report comprises of 75 pages, 23 tables and a directory of more than 80 companies involved in the Iranian PU industry. Ten appendices provide economic data, further sources of information and a comparison of key indicators between Iran and similar MENA countries—Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The report is available from Labyrinth Research & Markets Ltd, priced at GBP 1,000 per PDF copy.

Contact: [email protected] Tel. +44 1483 894697

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All polyurethanes, including polyurethane elastomers, are known by the acronym PU. In industry, however, the acronyms commonly used for poly-urethane elastomers are TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers) and TSU (thermosetting polyurethane elastomers or cast polyurethane elas-tomers), which are intended to make explicit the method of forming. The following paper reviews the chemical structure of PU elastomers, their production processes, main properties and applications.

Dr. Satoshi Yamasaki

Special Polyurethane Materials Development Group,

Synthetic Chemicals Laboratory

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Sodegaura-City, Chiba, Japan

English version first published in International Polymer

Science and Technology journal, 43, No. 6, 2016,

T29-T36

Published with kind permission of Smithers Rapra,

Shawbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK

Japanese version first published in Nippon Gomu

Kyokaishi, 89, No. 2, 2016, p. 29 – 35

Published with kind permission of Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,

The Society of Rubber Industry, Tokyo, Japan

Industrial synthetic methods for rubbers –

Polyurethane elastomers

S. Yamasaki

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1 Overview of polyurethane elastomers

Polyurethane elastomers are classified [1, 2] as multiblock copoly-mers whose primary structure comprises soft segments, made up from long-chain polyols (mainly a polyether polyol, polyester polyol or polycarbonate polyol), and hard segments, made up from a diisocy-anate and a chain extender (short-chain glycol). In particular, the urethane and/or urea groups in the hard segments of a polyurethane elastomer form a strong physical bridge structure due to their inter-molecular interaction from hydrogen bonding. This results in a higher order structure due to microphase separation of the soft segment phase and hard segment phase.

Polyurethanes as a whole, including polyurethane elastomers, are known by the acronym PU. In industry, however, the acronyms com-

monly used for polyurethane elastomers are TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers) and TSU (thermosetting polyurethane elas-tomers or cast polyurethane elastomers), which are intended to make explicit the method of forming.

Figure 1 shows a model of the primary structure and higher order structure of a typical polyurethane elastomer.

Polyurethane elastomers have a very complicated composition owing to the diversity of molecular structures formed as a result of the chemical structures of the diisocyanate and polyol moiety represent-ed by the long-chain polyol, chain extender or hardener.

However, the complexity of composition can also be seen as a foun-dation on which to build a range of different properties.

Recent research [3] has shown that the poly-urethane elastomer hard segment phase forms domains ranging from several tens to several hundreds of nm depending on the phase concentration. In other words, a poly-urethane is effectively an elastomer that forms a nano-structure.

2 Polyurethane elastomer production capacity

Figure 2 shows the world total sales volume of polyurethane elastomers TPU and TSU ac-cording to Fuji Keizai surveys [4, 5] of sales of “urethane elastomers (TPU)” and “ure-thane rubber (polyester urethane (PES-PU) or polyether urethane (PET-PU)”. Figure 3 shows domestic Japanese sales.

Global sales of TPU in 2013 were at approximatly 423 kt, compared to 50 kt for

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Sale

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kt

2012(Actual)

2013(Actual)

2014(Estimate)

2015(Forecast)

2016(Forecast)

2017(Forecast)

2018(Forecast)

398 423 446 469 492 515 538

4950

51.8 53.655.5 57.4

59.4

TSU TPU

Fig. 2: Total world sales volume of TPU and TSU Fig. 3: Japanese sales volume of TPU and TSU

Fig. 1: Model of primary and higher order structure of polyurethane elastomer

Starting materials HO~~~~~OH Polymer glycol (M–

n 1,000–4,000)

OCN-R1-NCO Diisocyanate

OH-R2-OH Short-chain glycol (chain extender)

Primary structure

Higher order structure

Microphase separation structure of hard and soft segment phases

Soft segment phase

Hard segment phaseStrong physical crosslink structureformed by intermolecular hydrogenbondingMean diameter of domains (d

–

)50–150 nm

S Soft segmentConstituted from polymer glycoland diisocyanateH Hard segmentConstituted from diisocyanate andshort-chain glycol

Polyaddition reaction

S SH H

d–

Starting materials HO~~~~~OH Polymer glycol (M–

n 1,000–4,000)

OCN-R1-NCO Diisocyanate

OH-R2-OH Short-chain glycol (chain extender)

Primary structure

Higher order structure

Microphase separation structure of hard and soft segment phases

SofS t segment phase

Hard segment phaseStrong physical crosslink structureformed by intermolecular hydrogenbondingMean diameter of domains (d

–

)50–150 nm

S Soft segmentConstituted from polymer glycoland diisocyanateH Hard segmentConstituted from diisocyanate andshort-chain glycol

Polyaddition reaction

S SH H

d–

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Sale

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kt

2012(Actual)

2013(Actual)

2014(Estimate)

2015(Forecast)

2016(Forecast)

2017(Forecast)

2018(Forecast)

TSU TPU

16.5

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

16.9 17.1 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.5

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TSU. On the other hand, in the same year, domestic Japanese sales of TPU were about 16.9 kt, while sales of TSU were 4.5 kt. When the proportionate sales of TPU and TSU are compared, TPU accounted for approximately 90 % of the global polyurethane elastomer market whereas in Japan the figure was approximately 79 %. It is evident, independent on the situation in Japan, that proportionate sales of TPU in the world market are overwhelmingly higher than for TSU. World-wide, an annual average growth rate of around 5 – 6 % is forecast for TPU, with growth of around 2 – 3 % for TSU. As with other rubbers, high market growth is expected in China and India in particular.

Table 1 summarizes the global and domestic Japanese sales value of TPU and TSU, again based on Fuji Keizai surveys of “urethane elastomer (TPU)” and “urethane rubber (PES-PU, PET-PU)” [4, 5].

Global sales of TPU in 2013 were approximately JPY 335.5 billion, compared with JPY 38.5 billion for TSU. Domestically, the figures were JPY 13.6 billion for TPU and JPY 3.6 billion for TSU. Proportion-ate value-based sales of TPU were approximately 90 % globally and 79 % domestically, agreeing with the figures for sales volume. The main producers of TPU are listed in table 2, main producers of and TSU in table 3 [4, 5].

As there are so many manufacturers of TPU and TSU, the table shows only the main global and domestic players and new en-trants for TPU, and the main domestic play-ers for TSU. The main players in the global TPU market are Lubrizol, BASF, Covestro, and Huntsman, all of them having a world-wide production base encompassing Asia as well as Europe and USA.

In Japan the main players are BASF Japan, DIC-Bayer Polymer, Tosoh and Dainichi Sei-ka. Sanyo Chemical Industries, not shown in the table, are developing and producing TPU in powder form for slush casting applica-tions, primarily automotive interior trim ma-terials. The company is said to be manufac-turing powder TPU with a capacity of several thousand tonnes using the solvent process

rather than the bulk polymerisation process most often used for TPU production [6]. Mitsui Chemical recently declared its entry into the TPU market on the back of its own new specialty isocyanates [7].

Unlike solid TPU, TSU is in most cases marketed to customers as a formulation of a usually liquid main component of isocyanate-termi-nated polyurethane prepolymer (abbreviated below as “prepolymer”) and hardener. Hence the bulk of TSU production volume corresponds to that of the prepolymer. The main domestic manufacturers of TSU are Mitsui Chemical, Tosoh and DIC Bayer Polymers. The main over-seas manufacturers are Chemtura, TSE Industries and Coim.

3 Polyurethane elastomer production processes

In the case of TSU the elastomer is usually produced by the cus-tomer by mixing the liquid prepolymer and hardener, casting the stirred reaction mixture into a mould, and hot curing for a specified time. Industrially, TSU can be produced anywhere a dedicated injec-tion machine is available. Unlike TSU, on the other hand, TPU is

Year 2012 (Actual)

2013 (Actual)

2014 (Estimated)

2015 (Forecast)

2016 (Forecast)

2017 (Forecast)

2018 (Forecast)

World

TPU 314,200 335,500 354,600 373,800 392,100 410,400 428,600

TSU 37,700 38,500 39,800 41,200 42,700 44,100 45,700

Japan

TPU 13,200 13,600 13,800 14,000 14,080 14,160 14,160

TSU 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600

Tab. 1: Global and domestic Japanese sales value of TPU and TSU (sales in million JPY) [4, 5]

Starting materials

Polymer glycol

Polyether polyolPolyester polyolPolycarbonate polyol

Short chain glycol(chain extender)

Aliphatic glycolAromatic glycolAlicyclic glycol

Diisocyanate

Aromatic diisocyanateAliphatic diisocyanateAlicyclic diisocyanate

With the aim of improving quality (fish eyereduction, control of melt properties):1) Development of mixer-agitator apart from twin screw extruder2) Synthesis of TPU at higher reaction temperature

NCO-terminatedPU prepolymer

Trend

One-shot processPrepolymer process

Batch process

Bulk

pol

ymer

isat

ion

Band casting process

PolymerisationIn tray120–130 °C, 24 h

Commi-nution

Drying Granulation

Commi-nution

DryingGranulationContinuous

polymerisation on belt140–170 °C, <20 min

Reactive extrusionDynamic polymerisation

Continuous polymerisationin twin screw extruder170–230 °C, <10 min

After granulation and polymerisation in theextruder, pelleting is usually done with water-cooledcutter and drying

Heating zone I Cooling zone

Conveyor belt

Fig. 4: Outline of TPU production by bulk polymerisation


manufactured by many different methods. The following chapters review TPU production processes, which are twofold: bulk polymerisa-tion and solution polymerisation.

3.1 Bulk polymerization

Figure 4 outlines the production of TPU by bulk polymerisation. The majority of TPUs are manufactured by bulk polymerisation to obtain the product in pellet form. Production can be divided into one-shot polymerisation, meaning that the long-chain polyol, the chain extend-er (short-chain glycol), and the diisocyanate are all polymerised to-gether in one step. The so-called prepolymer process means that long-chain polyol and diisocyanate are first reacted to synthesise an NCO-terminated prepolymer, which is then reacted to the final TPU by adding the short-chain glycol [1, 8, 9].

Industrial production of TPU by these methods is carried out by batch processing, band casting or reactive extrusion [1]. Of these three processes, band casting and reactive extrusion are continuous and currently the most widely employed.

3.1.1 Batch process

In the batch process, diisocyanate is added to the long-chain polyol and short-chain glycol adjusted to a prescribed temperature; usually, after several minutes of agitation, the reaction mixture is dispensed

into trays controlled to around 100 – 120 °C. Thereafter, polymeriza-tion is carried out at around 120 – 130 °C for about 24 h to obtain a resin. After the resin has been chopped up and comminuted, pellets are produced in an extruder.

The batch process allows TPUs to be produced over a wide range of hardness or melt viscosity but has the drawback that processing to the pellet stage is very laborious.

3.1.2 Band casting process

In the band casting process, the long-chain polyol, short-chain glycol and diisocyanate are fed to a mixing head and rapidly mixed. The reaction mixture is then fed continuously onto a steel or plastic conveyor belt hold at a prescribed temperature to polymerise the mixture to the TPU. Since the TPU is obtained in sheet form, the material is finely chopped and then passed through an extruder to make pellets. The TPU polymerization time is determined by the speed of the conveyor [1]. Although this meth-od allows continuous polymerisation of TPU, the polymerization and pel-leting steps are usually separated. Apart from making continuous produc-tion of pellets difficult, this means the belt has to be cleaned whenever brands of very different melt viscosity are produced. Again, since the starting materials are left unenclosed after mixing, an unduly large amount of equipment is needed to ensure labour safety if the formulation uses an isocyanate of high vapour pressure, for example hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) or 4,4’-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (H12-MDI).

3.1.3 Reactive extrusion process

The reactive extrusion process was developed to overcome these problems. The reactive extrusion process usually uses equipment capable of blending high viscosity polymers, typically a twin-screw extruder [1]. It has the advantage that by raising the polymerisation temperature, the reaction time is shortened, and continuous produc-tion from polymerisation to pellet stage can be achieved by fitting a strand die to the end of the extruder.

A variety of TPU production technologies based on reactive extrusion have been developed in recent years. In the latter half of the 1990s and into the 2000s, polymerisation equipment using a tubular reactor or static mixer was devised. Usually, when a twin screw extruder is used, the long-chain polyol, short-chain glycol and diisocyanate are thoroughly mixed with a high speed stirrer and the reaction mixture is then sent to the twin screw extruder. The low viscosity liquid is transported to the extruder where it polymerises while being mixed, affording a high viscosity polymer. However, it has been shown that during production of TPU continuously with a twin screw extruder, resin accumulates in the screw and the gap between the screw and extruder barrel, so that ultimately the TPU picks up a by-product of fine gel. Polymerisation equipment using a tubular reactor or static mixer has been devised to overcome this drawback and the process is reported to have high productivity and allow the production of TPU with minimal fine gel content or controlled melt behaviour [9 – 12].

Company name Tradename

BASF (BASF Inoac Polyurethanes) Elastollan, Raglan

Covestro Desmopan, Desmoflex, Texin, etc.

Lubrizol Estane, Pearlthane, etc.

Huntsman Irogran, Irostic, etc.

Yantai Wanhua Polyurethane Wanthane

Kuraray Kuramilon

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Lezamin

Nisshinbo Textile Inc. Mobilon

Tosoh (Nippon Miractolan) Miractolan

Mitsui Chemicals Fortimo

Company name Tradename

Mitsui Chemicals Takenate, Takenac, Haipuren, Saianapuren, Fortimo

Tosoh Coronate

DIC Pandex

Chemtura Adiprene, Vibrathane, etc.

TSE Industries Millathane, etc.

Tab. 2: Main producers of TPU*

Tab. 3: Main producers of TSU, millable polyurethane elastomers*

* Each product name shown in the above tables is a trademark or registered trademark of each manufacturer.


3.2 Solution polymerization

The solution process is applied to the production of TPU in finely particulate (powder) form. Two solution processes have been de-ployed industrially: “aqueous suspension polymerisation” [6, 13], which synthesises the polyurethane in water, and “non-aqueous dis-persion polymerisation” [14], which is conducted in an organic solvent of low solvency towards polyurethanes. Both methods are said to allow the synthesis of TPUs with a particle size of several hundred micron order difficult to achieve industrially by conventional means, and to enable control of particle size.

3.2.1 Aqueous suspension process

The key feature of the aqueous suspension polymerization is the use of a ketimine to synthesis particulate TPU quickly in water. Ketimines are compounds with an C=N-R-N=C group formed by dehydration reaction between an amine and ketone in which the ketone fulfils the role of an amine blocking agent. The ketiminisation reaction is revers-ible, and in contact with water ketimines dissociate into amine and ketone. Suspension polymerisation exploits this principle by first mix-ing the prepolymer with a ketimine prepared from a diamine and then stirring the mixture at high speed to effect dispersion, thereby achiev-ing rapid chain growth reaction in water. Since the prepolymer used in this method of production is usually insoluble in water, it tends to form spherical particles under the action of surface tension when dispersed in water. A surfactant is sometimes added for control of surface tension, i.e., to achieve precise control of the particle size of the TPU obtained. On completion of the polymerisation reaction, the product is obtained via dewatering and drying. The TPU produced by this method is used primarily in powder slush casting and toner binder applications, and reportedly comprises perfectly spherical particles of around 150 µm [6, 13].

3.2.2 Non-aqueous dispersion process

Non-aqueous dispersion polymerisation is utilised mainly for the syn-thesis of particle dispersion type emulsions using monomers with ethylenic unsaturated groups. The key technological feature of the synthesis of powder TPUs by this method is its use of a dispersion stabiliser to control particle association and agglomeration in the

organic solvent. As an example of the structure of such a dispersion stabiliser, [15] cites a compound obtained by reacting an ethylenic unsaturated monomer containing a C6 or higher hydrocarbon side-chain with a polyol containing unsaturated bonds. Using several parts by weight of the dispersion stabiliser with respect to the total weight of polyol and isocyanate, a TPU of uniform particle size may be ob-tained in the organic solvent. The organic solvent is a hydrocarbon solvent such as n-hexane or cyclohexane. Once polymerisation is complete, the TPU is obtained via a drying step as in aqueous suspen-sion polymerisation. The TPU produced by this method is used main-ly in powder slush casting applications [14].

4 Properties and applications of polyurethane elastomers [16]

The properties of polyurethane elastomers are greatly affected by the chemical structure and ratio of combination of polyols and isocy-anates used. The most widely used diisocyanates are aromatic iso-cyanates, namely 4,4’-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and tol-ylene diisocyanate (TDI). In applications where light resistance is re-quired, on the other hand, aliphatic isocyanates such as hexamethyl-ene diisocyanate (HDI) and alicyclic isocyanates such as H12-MDI or isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) are used. Non-yellowing TPUs making use of HDI and H12-MDI are under intensive development. TPUs using these isocyanates have found wide practical application, including coverings for automotive dashboards, switch or grip components and golf ball covers. In addition to diisocyanate monomers, their multi-functional polyisocyanate derivatives are finding application in the TSU field.

Diverse compounds, ranging from aliphatic to aromatic or alicyclic compounds, have been used for the short-chain glycol. The most widely used short-chain glycol is 1,4-butanediol (BD), which tends to improve the cohesion and crystallinity of hard segments and is easily handled as regards melting point, moisture absorption, etc. Applica-tions that require an improved softening temperature of the polyure-thane elastomer make use of aromatic glycols obtained from the addition polymerisation of alkylene oxide onto a bisphenol, or 1,4-bis(hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET) obtained by depolymerisa-tion of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Polyadipate polyester Polycaprolactone PTMEG Polycarbonate polyol

Main requirement General Heat resistance Water/fungal resistance Durability

Mechanical strength + + 0 +

Low temperature properties 0 0 + 0

Heat resistance 0 + – +

Resistance to hydrolysis – 0 + +

Oil resistance + + + +

Fungal resistance – – 0 0

Tab. 4: Characteristics of TPUs made using different long-chain polyols for the soft segments


Most widely used as the long-chain polyol major component of polyu-rethane elastomer starting material are polyether polyols, e.g., poly(tetramethylene ether) glycol (PTMEG), and polyester polyols, e.g., produced by polycondensation of adipic acid and an aliphatic or aromatic glycol, and polycaprolactone polyol (PCL) from the ring opening polymerisation of ε-caprolactone.

For applications requiring water-resistance, polyether polyols are usu-ally used, whereas for applications requiring heat-resistance, a poly-ester polyols are usually used. For applications that require durability, notably good heat resistance and water resistance, polycarbonate polyols is used.

Polyurethane elastomers can cover a wide range of hardness depend-ing on the ratio of soft segments to hard segments, and chemical structure. The elastomer is usually softer, with superior flex resist-ance and low temperature properties, when the proportion of soft segments is increased. When the proportion of hard segment is in-creased, on the other hand, the elastomer is harder, with enhanced heat resistance and mechanical properties such as tensile strength. The TPUs used in hot moulding applications such as injection mould-ing and extrusion must have reduced hard segment agglomeration at a temperature below the temperature of urethane linkage decom-position. A short-chain glycol such as 1,4-BD is therefore used as the chain extender making up the hard segments, but in applications where rapid melting must be achieved, as in slush casting, the hard segments may be constituted by a minor amount of urea groups by using a diamine as the chain extender.

Usually, the hard segments, created by the reaction of diisocyanate with short-chain glycol in a polyurethane elastomer produced by bulk polymerisation contain about 3 – 5 repeating units. Since the short-chain glycol and long-chain polyol hydroxy groups differ in their reactivity towards isocyanate groups, a distribution in hard segment length arises. Furthermore, intermolecular interaction with hard segments will differ because of the effect of the polymerisa-tion temperature and the chemical structure of the long-chain pol-

yol making up the soft segments. Because these factors have a large effect on microphase separation between hard and soft seg-ments, great differences can be seen in polyurethane elastomer properties.

Table 4 shows the characteristics of TPUs using different long-chain polyols for the soft segments.

As noted earlier, adipate-based polyester polyols are widely used for TPUs, but for applications demanding heat resistance, polycap-rolactone polyol (PCL) is used as the ester based polyol. For ap-plications where water resistance (hydrolysis resistance) and fungal resistance (mould proofing) are important, poly(tetramethylene ether) glycol (PTMEG) may be used, while for applications where durability is important, polycarbonate polyol (PCD) may be used. Since PCD-based TPU has the greatest endurance of all the TPUs, it is suitable for applications such as film and packings used repeat-edly over a long period.

Table 5 summarizes some mechanical properties of the TPUs that make use of the polyols described in table 4.

Usually, when the ether-linked polyol PTMEG is used, microphase separation from the hard segments improves and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the soft segments decreases. However, PCD and polyols such as polyester polyols containing aromatic rings are high-ly crystalline and have a rigid molecular chain. Thus the Tg of the soft segments tends to increase.

The properties of polyurethane elastomers vary greatly with the chemical structure of the hard segments. MDI is the isocyanate most widely used in polyurethane elastomers because the hard segments formed from MDI and short-chain glycol are highly cohesive. To con-trol the yellowing of polyurethane elastomers, alicyclic or aliphatic isocyanates are used, but because of the presence of isomers and the length of the alkyl chain between isocyanate groups, cohesive-ness tends to be lower than for hard segments of MDI after chain

Polyol type Ester-based Lactone-based Ether-based Carbonate-based

Specific gravity 1.21 – 1.22 1.18 – 1.20 1.11 – 1.12 1.20 – 1.21

Hardness in JIS A 81 – 90 78 – 90 83 – 93 81 – 90

100 % Modulus in MPa 3.9 – 6.8 3.9 – 6.3 4.6 – 10.0 4.9 – 8.3

Tensile strength in MPa 39 – 44 39 – 44 39 – 43 42 – 44

Elongation at break in % 400 450 – 500 450 – 500 450 – 500

Tear strength in kN/m 78 – 103 78 – 103 76 – 120 83 – 123

Resilience in % 53 – 63 55 – 62 60 – 65 37 – 50

Compression set* in % 38 – 56 37 – 53 45 34 – 52

Taber wear** in mg 38 – 56 37 – 53 45 34 – 52

Embrittlement temperature in °C <–70 <–70 <–70 <–70

* at 25 % compression, 70 °C, 22 h; ** abrading wheel H-22, load: 1 kg, 1,000 cycles

Tab. 5: General properties of TPUs produced from different polyols


extension with glycol. Mitsui Chemicals have recently announced [7] commercial production of a novel alicyclic isocyanate and a polyure-thane elastomer (Fortimo) that uses the isocyanate. While being non-yellowing, this also has greatly improved elasticity and thermal prop-erties compared with aromatic isocyanate.

Table 6 shows the methods of moulding and main applications of TPU.

As with other thermoplastic elastomers, many different moulding methods are available for TPU. Automotive and industrial compo-nents, and sports/leisure goods may be listed as applications sup-ported by injection moulding. Medical and health care products, hose/tube, belting and cable sheathing applications are supported by extrusion moulding, and automotive interior trim applications are supported by slush casting. Calendering, inflation moulding, blow moulding and solution casting can also be applied and have been deployed in various fields.

The main applications of TSU are given in table 7.

Applications span a broad range of hardness, including fields where high wear resistance and chemical resistance are required such as

industrial caster rolls, paper mill rolls, copier rolls and printer rolls, as well as solid tyres and very low hardness rubber components.

5 Allied rubbers

5.1 Millable polyurethane elastomers [2]

Elastomers of this type are obtained by the chemical crosslinking of relatively low molecular weight polyurethane whose molecular chain contains double bonds, following the same sulphur or peroxide crosslinking method as for synthetic rubbers. Processing in the same way as a rubber vulcanisate with rolls, Banbury mixer, etc., the pro-cess affords a polyurethane elastomer of low hardness and high elongation at break.

5.2 Water dispersion type polyurethane elastomers [2]

These are thin-film polyurethane elastomers obtained by coating and laminating processes. They have a molecular structure of ionomer type with branched hydrophilic groups and are dispersed in water at nano-order magnitude. They find application in film laminates, packaging materials and apparel for which organic solvents are difficult to use.

Moulding process Industry Main application

Injection moulding

Automotive Tyre chains, side moulds, dust covers, ball and socket joints

Industrial parts Castors, rollers, packings, seals, connectors

Sports/leisure Ski boots, footballs, golf balls, sports shoes, marine sports

Miscellaneous Watch straps, heel tops for women’s shoes

Extrusion

Hose/tubing Pressure hose, fire hose, pneumatic tubing, air tubing

Belting Conveyors, air matting, drive belts

Electrical wire Vehicle wiring, computer wiring, wire and power cable sheathing

Other Medical disposables, OA equipment connectors

Slush casting Automotive Dashboards, door trim

Calendering Industrial parts/OA equipment Conveyor belts, keyboard sheet, gaskets, seals

Inflation moulding Automotive/medical Films

Blow moulding Miscellaneous/industrial parts Films, containers

Solution casting Clothing Synthetic leather, artificial leather, adhesives

Moulding process Industry Main application

Cast polyurethane RIM (reaction injection moulding)

Automotive/specialty vehicles Solid tyres, belts, braid, track wheels, snowploughs

Industrial componentsPaper mill rolls, printing rolls, steel rolls, belts, O-rings, oil seals, gaskets, tooth rests, lead frame die pads,

springs, buffers, electrical appliance/OA equipment parts

Sport/leisure items/miscellaneous Skate rollers, castors, pipe, board, sheet

Industrial components Rollers, belts, O-rings, gaskets seals, vibration isolators, OA equipment parts

Sport/leisure items/miscellaneous Sport shoes, shoe soles, mouldings, rubber components

Others Parts for medical equipment, aerospace components

Tab. 6: Methods of moulding TPU and main applications

Tab. 7: Main applications of TSU


6 Conclusions

A little over six decades have passed since the first commercial of polyurethane elastomers. Because diverse functionality can be achieved by modification of structure and formulation, polyurethane elastomers remain the focus of on-going, intensive research and de-velopment.

Recent years have seen growth in demand due to the pioneering of new TPU applications, e.g. lightweight shoe soles of high resilience. At the same time, the market is driving the development of non-yel-lowing polyurethane elastomers that combine polyurethane-like elas-ticity and heat resistance with outstanding light resistance, alongside the development of easily formed and processed TPUs.

Maximum expression of polyurethane functionality and properties unobtainable with other rubber types holds an important key to the growth of polyurethane elastomers, and it is hoped that polyurethane elastomers with advanced functionality will emerge and can evolve in many different directions.

7 References

[1] Randall, D., Lee. S. Eds., “The Polyurethanes book”, Wiley, New York. Chapter 21 (2000)

[2] Hepburn, C. Ed., “Polyurethane Elastomers (2nd ed.)”, Elsevier Applied Science. London, Chapter 9 (1992)

[3] Mitsui, A., Motokucho, T., Kojio, K., Furukawa, M., Rheology Toronkai Koen Yokoshu. 54. p. 346 (2006)

[4] Fuji-Keizai. Tokyo Marketing Division Ed., “2015 Nen Kokinou Erasutoma - Oyoseihin Shijo No Tenkai To Gurobaru Senryaku”, Fuji- Keizai. Tokyo, p.99 (2015).

[5] Fuji-Keizai, Tokyo Marketing Division Ed., “2015 Kokinou Erasutoma -Oyoseihin Shijo No Tenkai To Gurobaru Senryaku”, Fuji-Keizai, Tokyo. p .230 (2015)

[6] Omori, H., Matsuura, K., “Toso To Toryo”, 627, p. 27 (2002)[7] http://jp.mitsuichem.com/ release/ 2014/ 2014_1211.htm[8] Oertel, G., “Polyurethane Handbook, (2nd ed.)”. Hanser. Mu-

nich. Chapter 8 (1993)[9] Muller, M., Brauer, W., Heidingsfeld, H., Rohrig, W., Hoppe, H.-

G., Winkler, J., US Patent 5905133A (1999)[10] Kaufhold, W., Brauer, W., Liesenfelder, U., Heidingsfeld, H.,

Rohrig, W., Hoppe, H.-G., US Patent 6355762B (2000)[11] Brauer, W., Kaufhold, W., Muller, F., Winkler, J., Heidings-

feld, H., Rohrig, W., Hoppe, H.-G., US Patent 6930163B (2000)

[12] Tomata, T., Jpn. Tokkyo Koho 3899064 (2007)[13] Takeuchi, M., Ukai, J., Nomura, M., Toyota Technical Review,

51, p. 216 (2001)[14] Hayashi, M., Tsuchida, T., API Polyurethanes Tech. Conference

2005, p. 57 (2005)[15] Japan Patent publication H02-038453[16] Yamasaki, S., “NetsuKasosei Erastoma No Zairyo Sekkei To

Seikei Kako – Kouseinoka To Oyo Gijyutsu Tenkai”, Yamashita, S. Ed., Joho Gijutsu Kyokai. Tokyo, p. 108 (2007)

“One trend in the market is upcoming developments in bio-based products. The interest in bio-based TPUs is rising, owing to their ad-vantageous properties such as biodegradability, low density, recycla-bility, and cost-effectiveness. These advantages place bio-based TPUs at a commercially competitive position with synthetic TPUs. The industry has observed an opportunity to potentially replace synthetic TPUs with bio-based ones in several applications such as household objects, packaging, automobiles, and furniture”, an analyst from the research team said. According to the report from the Dublin-based market analysis specialists one driver in the market is rise in demand from the automotive industry. Despite the overall slowing down of the demand for automotive, the global automotive industry is now in a better shape than it was five years ago, especially in the US where profits and sales have recovered after the recent economic crisis. In

China, the strong growth is consistent. By 2021, the global profits for the automotive OEMs are expected to rise by almost 50 %. The increase in profits is expected to come mainly from the growth in the emerging markets like India, China, and Thailand and to a lesser ex-tent from developed markets like the US, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

www.researchandmarkets.com

Global TPU markets 2017 – 2021

Analysts of Research & Markets have issued a new market study on the development of the international markets for thermoplastic poly-urethanes. According to the study the TPU market is expected to grow globally at a CAGR of 6.24 % during the period 2017 – 2021.

Thermoplastic Polyurethane Market by Type (Polyester, Polyether, and Polycaprolactone), End-Use Industry (Automotive, Footwear, Engineering, Building & Construction, Wires & Cables, Hose & Tubing, and Medical), and Region - Global Forecast to 2021.


Chinaplas 2018 will be held for the first time at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Hong-qiao, Shanghai, from 24 – 27 April 2018. The show organiser Adsale said that applications from over 4,500 companies were received before the deadline in November 2017. It is expected that the exhibition area will reach 340,000 m2, an expansion of 100,000 m2 compared to Chinaplas 2016 in Shanghai.

Chinaplas 2018 with new venue and new theme zones

Preview to Asia’s no. 1 plastics and rubber trade show

Expanding and reorganising the show

China’s plastics and rubber industries, which are fundamental sectors of the country’s economy, are growing significantly. New materials and processing technologies continue to emerge, and propel the expansion of upstream and downstream industries. Adsale said, exhibitors and visitors alike have been demanding more and better exhibition services at Chinaplas. This has driven the show organiser to move from the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in Pudong to the new National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Hongqiao.

“From 2012 onwards, Chinaplas has faced the problem of space shortage,” said Ada Leung, Adsale’s General Manager. “Previ-ously, when we held the show at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong, we had used up all the indoor exhibition halls. We even built outdoor temporary exhibition halls, but still couldn’t meet the huge demand from our exhibitors. By moving to the new venue, NECC, Adsale can fulfill the strong demand for exhibition space immediately. This relocation to the new venue is also good for the long-term development of Chinaplas.”

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Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale


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NECC in Hongqiao – a new experience

The shape of the NECC is like a blooming four-leaf clover. The futur-istic exhibition centre opened its doors in 2015, and has been in full operation since 2016. With a total construction area of 1.47 mil-lion m², it is currently the largest single block building and exhibition complex in the world. There are 400,000 m² of indoor area, which consists of 13 large and 3 smaller halls. The central area is a com-mercial plaza providing abundant catering services.

“Chinaplas 2018 will not only accommodate more exhibitors, but will also have better management in the set-up of theme zones, country/region pavilions, and concurrent events. We believe that visitors will have a new, high-quality visiting experience,” Leung said. Adsale says that the NECC enjoys a unique geographical advantage. It is located in the west of the core business district of Hongqiao, the linear distance from NECC to the Hongqiao traffic hub is only 1.5 km. It is closely linked with the Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. To reach the Shanghai business districts it takes 30 min.

Supporting facilities have also been gradually improving in the area near the fairgrounds. In terms of public transport, Metro line 2 directly links to the NECC and Metro line 17 is connected to the northwest corner of NECC. Many restaurants will operate in the plaza to provide a wide range of food and beverage options. Some hotels near NECC are already open, and several more hotels along the Metro line 17 will be open soon.

New theme zones

Adsale has been rearranging the overall theme zone layout. Extrusion-related technology will be in the eastern part of the NECC, injection moulding technology will be in the west, and blow moulding technol-ogy will occupy the southern part of the complex. Adsale has also arranged exhibits of the same category in nearby locations, for ex-ample, “film technology and plastic packaging machinery” and “injec-tion moulding technology and smart manufacturing equipment” etc. Different European pavilions, which were located among different halls in the past, will be concentrated in hall 2H.

A novelty will be the Thermoplastic Elastomers & Rubber Zone in hall 6.2H. This new theme zone within the Chemicals & Raw Mate-rials Zone, will gather about 50 companies. Many of them suppliers of thermoplastic polyurethanes, such as Chinasound, Coating P. Ma-terials Co., Ltd.(CPMC), Coim, Huafon, Huntsman, Lubrizol, Miracll, Topolymer, and Shanghai Hiend Polyurethane Inc.

Industry 4.0 conference

In response to rising market demands, Chinaplas 2018 will also intro-duce a 3D Technology Zone. This new theme zone and the concur-rent event The 3rd Industry 4.0 Conference will complement each other, providing a comprehensive experience for the enterprises inter-ested in 3D printing technology and “smart manufacturing”. The VDMA, the German Engineering Federation will be supporting the conference. The topics of this conference will be far-reaching and practical. Three sessions — covering automotive, electrical and electronics, and pack-aging — will be organised. Participants will be inspired by the best proven German practices. At present, Arburg, Erema, Kuka, Krauss-Maffei, RWTH Aachen University, Wittmann Battenfeld and others have confirmed their presence as guest speakers. The conference is sched-uled on 24 – 25 April (afternoon) and 26 April (morning).

“Tech Talk”

“Tech Talk” at Chinaplas has been introduced last year to enrich the technology content of the trade show, creating a platform for interna-tional exhibitors to launch their products. Last edition of Chinaplas in Guangzhou featured more than 30 talks. This year, “Tech Talk” will be highlighting topics, including smart manufacturing, innovative materials, and Green Solutions. “Tech Talk” is scheduled on 24 – 26 April, in halls 4.2 and 8.2.

“Medical Plastics Connect”

“Medical Plastics Connect” is an array of activities to comprehen-sively present cutting-edge and practical medical plastics solutions to visitors, through open forums, guidebook, pop-up kiosk and guided tour. International experts will be invited to share their valuable knowl-edge on hot topics such as sterilization-resistant materials, compos-ite materials for pharmaceutical packaging, medical TPU and PEEK resins, precision tubing solutions, cleanroom injection molding tech-nology, and more. Detailed information can be found at www.china-plasonline/medical18.

www.chinaplasonline.com

First introduced in 1983, Chinaplas has been approved by UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) since 2006. The fair is exclusively sponsored by the Europe’s Association for Plastics and Rubber Machinery Manufacturers (Euromap) in China for the 29th time.

Chinaplas 2018 will be relocated from the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in Pudong to the new National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Honqqiao.

We have united the broadest range of surfactants, catalysts, curatives and release agents to give you the widest additives choice. Let our global team of technical experts develop the winning solution for you.

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