Bayer also is seeing new business in the areas of storm protection and security, including blast protection and windows on vehicles.
``The need for these types of products is a bad thing for the world in general, but it's been a good thing for the polycarbonate market,'' Rumer said.
Bayer also has continued to invest in the U.S., making ``slight capacity additions'' in 2007 and 2008, as well as investing in a new customer center in Newark, Ohio. The center includes a color lab and small-lot compounding capability. ``We wanted to make the whole facility more customer-friendly,'' said Rumer.
On the raw material side, Rumer said that PC feedstocks ``have been tight and difficult for much of the year.''
``Benzene has been north of $4. So when customers see it at $3.50, they think it's a bargain,'' he said. ``But that's still up 50 percent vs. 2004.''
Rumer said that Bayer has been successful in raising PC resin prices in 2007, but he declined to provide details. Plastics News earlier had reported that North American PC prices had ticked up an average of 6 cents per pound since June 1.
TPE
The automotive drop-off also had an impact on the market for thermoplastic elastomers, with sales reportedly flat at the thermoplastic polyurethane business of BASF Corp. ``2006 was a very successful year, with sales up more than 20 percent,'' said Stephane Morin, TPU product manager with Florham, Park, N.J.-based BASF. ``But in 2007, it's been more like catching our breath.''
At the same time, Morin said he expects a rebound in 2008, with sales up 6-7 percent.
``There are a lot of opportunities popping up,'' he said. ``We're seeing a lot of activity in automotive, with a lot of projects in automotive interior.
``TPU is replacing other materials in the interiors of luxury vehicles, where people want a soft, leathery feel. [TPU] is going on parts of door panels, consoles, gear-shift knobs, and instrument panels, where it's replacing PVC.''
Ongoing debottlenecking at BASF's TPU production site in Wyandotte, Mich., also is expected to increase overall capacity by 10 percent by the end of 2008. Elsewhere in the TPU field, Lubrizol Corp. boosted capacity by 30 percent at its TPU plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, in late 2006.
Morin added that industrial uses of TPU also are doing well. These include parts such as gears and casters, as well as cables used in oil exploration.
Industry analyst Bob Eller pointed out that the TPE market also is seeing more intramaterial competition with other TPEs. TPU, styrenic block copolymers and olefinic thermoplastic vulcanicates are renewing their competition with thermoset rubber, partly as a result of all-time high prices for rubber in North America.
A number of compounders also now offer a broader line of TPEs than they have in the past, said Eller, whose Akron, Ohio-based consulting firm recently completed multiclient studies of TPE markets in China, the U.S. and Europe.
Though some TPE end markets are shifting from the U.S. and Europe into Asia, Eller said annual U.S. SBC growth rates should average 6-7 percent in the near future.
ABS
The automotive and construction slowdown provided a one-two punch to the ABS market, where sales were flat to slightly down in the first half of 2006. The ACC hasn't released 2007 sales numbers so far, but ABS market watchers aren't optimistic, since the auto and construction segments combined for more than 40 percent of sales for ABS and specialty styrenics in 2006.
``The market's probably going to end flat in 2007,'' said Greg Smith at RTI. ``Auto and construction are down, but the sheet market is doing pretty well. There's some growth there.''
``ABS/[acrylic styrene acrylonitrile] blends are replacing fiberglass in some applications and coextruded ABS sheet is being used more in recreational vehicles. The Asian ABS market is a lot stronger, with 8-9 percent growth, because of automotive growth.''
North American ABS makers were able to win a 3 cent-per-pound price increase in June as a result of higher benzene prices. The region's total ABS output was at 1.3 billion pounds in 2005 and 2006.
Nylon
Add the nylon market to the list of resins that received an unexpected boost from exports in early 2007.
On the domestic side, sales were down almost 3 percent through July, but a 28 percent burst in exports produced an overall market gain of just over 3 percent. Most of the domestic drop-off can be chalked up to a 19 percent dip in the auto and truck segment. Historically, that segment generates about 40 percent of domestic nylon sales, but was responsible for only 30 percent in the first seven months of the year.
And while the impact of the auto build picture remains unclear for 2008, the global nylon resin market should manage 4-6 percent growth, according to Dave Donofrio, global business and marketing manager for nylon market leader DuPont Co. of Wilmington, Del.
Increasing the amount of nylon used per vehicle is one way to counteract lower build numbers, Donofrio said.
``What we look to do is improve our pull and content,'' he added. ``That's where the growth is, not in absolute numbers.''
Nylon material improvements continue to revolve around ``the whole powertrain area,'' where OEMs want resins that can handle higher temperatures while reducing part weight.
Raw material pressure on nylon intermediates such as adipic acid will continue to be high, Donofrio explained, because no new feedstock capacity is set to arrive for the next several years.
``If there's a hiccup, it's felt immediately in the supply chain,'' he said. ``These materials have followed the price of oil up, but not down. Now it's more a pure supply-demand market.''
Nylon makers Solutia Inc. and Honeywell Specialty Materials also are optimistic about North America, as witnessed by resin capacity expansions each completed earlier this year. St. Louis-based Solutia added almost 160 million pounds of capacity for nylon 6/6 in Pensacola, Fla., while Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell boosted specialty nylon capacity in Chesterfield, Va., by about 35 million pounds.
* * *
LDPE
Best BIG market: Shrink film
% change: +12 d
Worst BIG market: nonfood packaging film
% change: -7.3 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
LLDPE
Best BIG market: Shrink/stretch film
% change: +3.5 d
Worst BIG market: Shipping sacks
% change: -9.5 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
HDPE
Best BIG market: Retail bags
% change: +24.4 d
Worst BIG market: Corrugated pipe/conduit
% change: -12.8 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
PP
Best BIG market: Injection molded housewares
% change: +17.8 d
Worst BIG market: Monofilament & multifilament fibers
% change: -5.5 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
PVC
Best BIG market: Film & sheet
% change: +3.9 d
Worst BIG market: Extruded windows/doors
% change: -22.5 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
PS
Best BIG market: Food packaging
% change: +22.7 d
Worst BIG market: Electrical/electronics
% change: -22.5 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)
* * *
Nylon
Best BIG market: Consumer goods
% change: +12.6 d
Worst BIG market: Automotive & truck
% change: -19.3 f
Based on end-market sales through July 2007 (vs. same 2006 period)