Flexible Foam Market Worth 64.14 Billion USD by 2026

Monday 16 January 2017, Amsterdam

The report, now available on ASDReports, "Flexible Foam Market by Type (Polyurethane, Polyethylene, Polypropylene), Application (Furniture & Bedding, Transportation, Packaging), Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2026", The flexible foam market is projected to grow from USD 35.86 Billion in 2016 to USD 64.14 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.99% from 2016 to 2026.

The market is mainly driven by the growing use of flexible foams in furniture & bedding, automobiles, and packaging applications. In the automobile application, use of flexible foams results in reduced weight of vehicles, while in the packaging application, these foams not only ensure light weight of packages, but also offer cushioning and shock absorption properties.

Polyurethane (PU) foam is the largest type in the flexible foam market

Flexible polyurethane foams are commercially available in different forms such as slabstock, molded, and integral skin. These foams are flexible, structured, and non-reactive to chemicals and high temperatures, which makes them suitable for a wide variety of applications such as furniture & bedding, packaging, automotive, apparels, footwear, and other niche applications.  PU foam also has environmental benefits; for instance, product made from polyurethane foam can be recycled and reused. Hence, the flexible foam market is expected to grow at a significant pace during the forecasted period.

Transportation is the fastest growing application segment in the flexible foam market

Transportation application includes automobile, railways and aerospace. But automobile is the dominating industry in transportation application. The automobile industry is focusing on the weight reduction of vehicles. Companies are finding innovative ways to make use of materials to reduce the weight of the vehicles, which results in increasing efficiency. Flexible foam when combined with metals, helps to decrease weight, increases shock absorption and reduces vibration and dampening of the automobile. Hence, automobile manufacturers are focusing on increasing the use of flexible foam in the automobile.

Asia-Pacific has been the fastest-growing market for flexible foam

In 2015, Asia-Pacific was the fastest-growing market for flexible foam, in terms of both, volume and value, and is projected to continue the same during the forecast period. Emerging markets in Asia-Pacific such as China, India, South Korea, and the Southeast Asian countries are attracting global players to establish their manufacturing bases in this region. Manufacturers are vying to reach the wide customer base in countries such as China and India, to provide technologically advanced and quality products. Increased investments in various technological, infrastructural, and R&D sectors are driving the flexible foam market in the Asia-Pacific region.

The players profiled in the flexible foam market report are BASF SE (Germany), Bayer Material Science (U.S.), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Huntsman Corporation (U.S.) Rogers Corporation (U.S.), Ube Industries, Ltd (Japan), Recticel (Belgium), Zotefoams Plc (U.K.), The Woodbridge Group (Canada), and Sekisui Alveo AG (Switzerland).