Elastic Laminates Market to Reflect Steady Growth Rate by 2027

Posted by Shirish Wadaskar on February 21st, 2019

Global sales of elastic laminates will cross a US$ 5 billion mark in 2019, with an increase by 5.1% over 2018. A new FMI study on global elastic laminates forecasts robust adoption of elastic laminates by manufacturers of personal hygiene products, who currently hold almost 85% share. While baby diapers remain the most sought after application of elastic laminates, the share of feminine hygiene products is also expanding at a rapid pace.

Incontinence products continue to present significant investment opportunities to manufacturers of elastic laminates. Elevating rate of chronic disease prevalence, especially urological conditions, is prominently accounting for significant demand growth of incontinence products. Furthermore, increasing incorporation of elastic laminates in medical products such as medical tapes is extending an increasing share of revenue to the global elastic laminates market, says the report.

Addressing relative temperature and humidity within hygiene and incontinence products has been a longstanding challenge for manufacturers, which continues to harness research interests of some of the leading elastic laminates manufacturers. Companies are thus experimenting with design materials for elastic laminates. Non-woven webs and breathable films are currently being perceived as a potential solution to effectively tackle humidity related issues associated with elastic laminates, predominantly used for incontinence and hygiene products.  Merries Disposable Diaper, one of the first to introduce a baby diaper with almost 40% superior breathability feature, continues to focus on breathable material innovations.

Driven by easy availability and economic price point, propylene will remain a preferred choice of material among manufacturers of elastic laminates. However, manufacturing elastic laminates using elastomers that are based on ethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and styrene-block copolymers has been emerging as a popular trend since the recent past.

Technological advances targeting development of low-priced high-performance hygiene products are cited as an important demand determinant pushing performance of elastic laminates market. Manufacturers of hygiene and incontinence products are focusing on introducing products that are based on sustainable material-based elastic laminates. According to the report, a rapid shift to recyclable and bio-based materials is driving strategic developments of a number of companies investing active R&D efforts in promoting biodegradable elastic laminates in the market.

In a fairly fragmented landscape of global elastic laminates market, merely 20-25% of the total revenue belongs to five leading players, including Berry Global Group, Inc., Tredegar Corporation, Kraton Corporation, Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., and Exxon Mobil Corp.

While top companies maintain their strategic focus on M&A and new product launches, production capacity expansion will remain the most prominent move, says the report. Berry Global Group, Inc. recently announced the expansion of their production capacity in North America, backed by heavy investments in Spinlace technology used in manufacturing of elastic laminates.

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. augmented the processing capacity of polypropylene-based non-wovens and netting products. Aplix S.A., Golden Phoenix Fiberwebs, Inc., Pantex International S.p.A., Neos Italia Srl, and Mondi Group plc among others will represent a larger collective share in the elastic laminates market value. Regional expansion and new launches will drive strategic growth of these players competing in elastic laminates market.

The report forecasts a healthy CAGR of 5.6% for global elastic laminates market value over 2018-2028.