As the coronavirus pandemic continues, demand for acrylic sheet has risen sharply in the past few weeks. The sheets are one of the first lines of defense against the spread of the virus anywhere where personal contact is unavoidable.
The sheets are being used as a version of a "sneeze guard," a transparent wall between points of contact in a store such as in checkout lines, at pharmacies and even banks. A few schools have installed the sheets to minimize the potential for infection.
Röhm GmbH has responded by significantly scaling up production at its side Weiterstadt, Germany. At the same time, further measures have been taken to protect production staff from potential infection.
The company says it has secure and reliable access to raw materials and primary products to manufacture its Plexiglas sheet products, all of which are produced in Germany, allowing it to react respond quickly and flexibly to the increased demand on the market.
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), also known as acrylic or acrylic glass, is a transparent thermoplastic often used in sheet form as a lightweight or shatter-resistant alternative to glass.
Prior to the current pandemic, the worldwide market for acrylic sheet was predicted to grow at an annual rate of roughly 5.2 percent over the next five years, reaching $7.1 billion in 2024, up from $5270 million in 2019, according to the Acrylic Sheets Industry 2019 Global Market research report published last year.