Feiplastic ’19: New fire-safety rules boost Brazil PIR demand

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–New fire-safety regulations are increasing demand for polyisocyanurate (PIR), an official with BASF said on Thursday.

Because of the new rules, PIR is replacing expandable polystyrene (EPS) and conventional polyurethanes in wall panels, said Murilo de Barros Feltran, BASF product management & marketing manager, performance materials – South America. He made his comments on the sidelines of the Feiplastic trade show.

The new standards were launched in 2017, and they are similar to those in Europe, he said.

BASF is seeing double-digit growth in Brazil for PIR as a result of the new regulations, he said.

For construction as a whole, the industry in Brazil is showing some signs of growth, although it is not outstanding, said Jefferson Schiavon, BASF director of performance materials for South America.

Over the years, several observers have remarked that construction was one of the slowest markets to recover from Brazil’s deep recession from earlier this decade.

The slow recovery affected the market for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), according to Braskem. It contracted for four straight years before growing by 1.4% in 2018.

The Feira Internacional do Plastic (Feiplastic) takes place on 22-26 April in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Interview article by Al Greenwood