PLASTIMAGEN 2016: TPE’s growing with automotive industry in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (ICIS)–The thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) market in Mexico is growing in line with the robust performance of the country’s automotive industry, which is a major TPE consuming sector, a participant said on Thursday.

The outlook in the next few years in Mexico for both the TPE and the auto industries remains strong, Alberto Oba, sales director for Kraiburg TPE Mexico, said on the sidelines of the Plastimagen plastics conference.

Oba has seen TPE growth of 10-15% per year for the past five years in Mexico, and is projecting 10-12% per year growth for the next three years.

TPEs from the US enter Mexico free of duties under NAFTA, and Oba sees no obstacles for importing TPE into Mexico.

TPE’s are used in exterior, interior and under-the-hood automotive applications. In exteriors, TPE’s are used in window encapsulation and in water deflectors for windshields. In car interiors, TPE’s are used in thumb-wheels for air conditioning vents, floor mats, and radio buttons. In the engine area, TPE’s are used in ducts, seals and gaskets.

Although a significant number of TPE uses are in the automotive sector, TPE is also used in consumer, industrial and medical applications. Typical industrial applications are in packaging and in grips for drills. Consumer applications include deodorant caps, for example. In the medical field, TPE is used in syringe plungers and membrane seals, Oba said.

Automotive applications for TPE’s are more global in nature, compared with industrial and consumer applications which are more regional, according to Oba.

Plastimagen runs through Friday in Mexico City.

The automotive industry is major global consumer of petrochemicals which contribute more than a third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. ICIS tracks the movement of petrochemical raw material costs in auto production both globally and regionally with the weighted ICIS Basket of Automotive Petrochemicals (IBAP).

ICIS produces a monthly Global Automotive report covering the major automotive chemicals markets, the auto-industry, the IBAPs and macroeconomic trends. For more information on the report and details on how to subscribe, please email automotive@icis.com

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