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Indian GRP industry set for growth
Indian GRP industry set for growth : I4s India becomes / f‘irms are moving
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an increasingly attractive territory in which to invest more Western in. Jane Gilby reports on the reasons behind these activities.
he glass reinforced plastic (GRP) industry in India witnessed a remarkable annual growth rate of around 15% between 1 987-1995. This figure is expected to ii ncrease by approximately 5% during t he period 1999-2000 as a result of several factors. These include: education; ntew applications; the development of lrocessing techniques; and the availp a.bility of raw materials. The GRP industry in India has always exhibited a growth of approxinnately 2-2.5 times the national gross ddomestic product (GDP) which haj s ; grown 743% since 1990, except for 1997 1998 when GDP was only 5.5%. Somet? 16-17% of India’s GRP output is export ed to the Middle East and the USA. II 1 he future implementation of more cap ml-intensive techniques, such as resin I ! ransfer moulding (RTM) and pultru ion, providing better quality products hould improve these figures. The country’s GRP industry begai i! n the 1960s but it is only in the las ddecade that it has experienced sucl lhenomenal growth. However, thl p il ndustry has not been without prob 11ems. The opening up of the Indiai 1 ; e conomy, which began in the earl: Y : 1 990s led to significant reforms of cer t ain government policies as a means 0d S timulating industrial development !I his finally took its toll on almost al 1
Projected sector use of glass fibre in India 2000-2001 Source: S. Sundaram, RP Asia 98
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Analyst
segments of industry in India during 1996-1997, resulting in overall economic downturn. The GRP industry managed to escape the worst effects of the reforms and was, in 1996-1997, able to maintain the 1995-1996 annual demand for glass fibre - 11 000 tonnes finally seeing an increase to 12 800 tonnes in 1997-1998. Particular areas for growth within the GRP industry are the building and construction markets; these are expected to account for 21% of the country’s glass in 2000-2001. The growing consumer demand for cars and domestic products will stand the glass fibre industry in good stead for future growth. As demand for cars grows the need for petroleum storage tanks will also grow, again increasing the demand for glass fibre. The chemical industry, which has typically been the mainstay of the composites industry in India over the last 30 years, is still responsible for around 21% of GRP consumption, though it has not experienced the growth seen in other sectors. A further sector already showing increased use of composites is the Indian railway system which is notable for its high passenger loads and its immense track lengths. GRP components currently being used in this area include seating, toilet water tanks and doors. On average 2000 new coaches are built by Indian Railways every year and the Ministry of Railways is encouraging the use of more composites in railway coaching stock in attempts to reduce weight. While contact moulding continues to be the mainstay of the Indian GRP industry the advent of newer processing techniques: filament winding; pultrusion; RTM and hot compression moulding (SMCYBMC) have all caught on to a great extent during the last ten years. And to date there are approximately 25 processors using RTM machines and technology in India.
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20 000 14400
15000
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Consumption of glass fibre (tonnes) in India 1998 - 2001 Source: S. Sundaram, RP Asia 98 Fibre reinforced thermoplastic s : (RTP) has been one of the larges t I growth areas in the Indian GRP indue I_ : try since 1996, incurring around a 205 6 growth in the past year. With global composite player S such as GE, DuPont and Bayer estat ,lishing facilities in India, RTP ha S been widely used with nylon E‘9 polyethylene terephthalate, polycar *_ bonate and polypropylene. One of th e most important applications for RTI P has been in automotive components $7 made in India by car makers sucl h. as General Motors, Ford, Peugeoi ;, : Mercedes and Honda. The structure and development aIf I the unsaturated polyester (UP) indue ;_ try in India has been fragmented wit1 h’ a variety of manufacturers operatin, g: on a small scale. In the last yea r Ashland Chemical has set up a distrib ,utorship in India for its range aIf I resins, and Cray Valley has provide, d i technology to Noble Synthetics iI n ' India for certain grades of UP resim i. j Dow Chemicals’ range of vinyl ester s : has been available in India for som e time, and is predominantly used with Lin the chemical industry. These factors combined with Owen S Corning’s opening of its 30 000 tonner J year plant in the July of 1998 will serv e as a catalyst for the increasing use c,f glass fibre from 1999.
February
1999
: i
: i :
: ; :
an increasingly attractive territory in which to invest more Western in. Jane Gilby reports on the reasons behind these activities.
he glass reinforced plastic (GRP) industry in India witnessed a remarkable annual growth rate of around 15% between 1 987-1995. This figure is expected to ii ncrease by approximately 5% during t he period 1999-2000 as a result of several factors. These include: education; ntew applications; the development of lrocessing techniques; and the availp a.bility of raw materials. The GRP industry in India has always exhibited a growth of approxinnately 2-2.5 times the national gross ddomestic product (GDP) which haj s ; grown 743% since 1990, except for 1997 1998 when GDP was only 5.5%. Somet? 16-17% of India’s GRP output is export ed to the Middle East and the USA. II 1 he future implementation of more cap ml-intensive techniques, such as resin I ! ransfer moulding (RTM) and pultru ion, providing better quality products hould improve these figures. The country’s GRP industry begai i! n the 1960s but it is only in the las ddecade that it has experienced sucl lhenomenal growth. However, thl p il ndustry has not been without prob 11ems. The opening up of the Indiai 1 ; e conomy, which began in the earl: Y : 1 990s led to significant reforms of cer t ain government policies as a means 0d S timulating industrial development !I his finally took its toll on almost al 1
Projected sector use of glass fibre in India 2000-2001 Source: S. Sundaram, RP Asia 98
I I
Compdsites
Business
Analyst
segments of industry in India during 1996-1997, resulting in overall economic downturn. The GRP industry managed to escape the worst effects of the reforms and was, in 1996-1997, able to maintain the 1995-1996 annual demand for glass fibre - 11 000 tonnes finally seeing an increase to 12 800 tonnes in 1997-1998. Particular areas for growth within the GRP industry are the building and construction markets; these are expected to account for 21% of the country’s glass in 2000-2001. The growing consumer demand for cars and domestic products will stand the glass fibre industry in good stead for future growth. As demand for cars grows the need for petroleum storage tanks will also grow, again increasing the demand for glass fibre. The chemical industry, which has typically been the mainstay of the composites industry in India over the last 30 years, is still responsible for around 21% of GRP consumption, though it has not experienced the growth seen in other sectors. A further sector already showing increased use of composites is the Indian railway system which is notable for its high passenger loads and its immense track lengths. GRP components currently being used in this area include seating, toilet water tanks and doors. On average 2000 new coaches are built by Indian Railways every year and the Ministry of Railways is encouraging the use of more composites in railway coaching stock in attempts to reduce weight. While contact moulding continues to be the mainstay of the Indian GRP industry the advent of newer processing techniques: filament winding; pultrusion; RTM and hot compression moulding (SMCYBMC) have all caught on to a great extent during the last ten years. And to date there are approximately 25 processors using RTM machines and technology in India.
25 oao
20 000 14400
15000
18000 10000 22 000 5 000
qv~;lir,_ (i_)_r ;:,, $"f‘"",$‘
Consumption of glass fibre (tonnes) in India 1998 - 2001 Source: S. Sundaram, RP Asia 98 Fibre reinforced thermoplastic s : (RTP) has been one of the larges t I growth areas in the Indian GRP indue I_ : try since 1996, incurring around a 205 6 growth in the past year. With global composite player S such as GE, DuPont and Bayer estat ,lishing facilities in India, RTP ha S been widely used with nylon E‘9 polyethylene terephthalate, polycar *_ bonate and polypropylene. One of th e most important applications for RTI P has been in automotive components $7 made in India by car makers sucl h. as General Motors, Ford, Peugeoi ;, : Mercedes and Honda. The structure and development aIf I the unsaturated polyester (UP) indue ;_ try in India has been fragmented wit1 h’ a variety of manufacturers operatin, g: on a small scale. In the last yea r Ashland Chemical has set up a distrib ,utorship in India for its range aIf I resins, and Cray Valley has provide, d i technology to Noble Synthetics iI n ' India for certain grades of UP resim i. j Dow Chemicals’ range of vinyl ester s : has been available in India for som e time, and is predominantly used with Lin the chemical industry. These factors combined with Owen S Corning’s opening of its 30 000 tonner J year plant in the July of 1998 will serv e as a catalyst for the increasing use c,f glass fibre from 1999.
February
1999