Radiation Cured Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 To 2025

Increasing application scope in manufacturing coatings, ink, and adhesives is anticipated to drive global radiation cured market growth over the next seven years. Global radiation cured products consumption in 2012 was valued over USD 4.0 billion. Growing government support owing to environmental benefits such as reduced energy consumption is anticipated to remain a key driving factor for industry growth.

Ink applications consumed over 15% of the total demand whereas adhesives utilized over 5% of the market volume. Asia Pacific was the leading regional market with over 30% of the total volume in 2012. Europe was the second largest radiation cured market with over 25% of the total demand in 2012.

These products are cross linked by high-intensity UV light or electron beam energy sources and exhibit excellent properties such as abrasion resistance, cured & dried and excellent hardness. Strict government regulations regarding solvent-free formulation usage is expected to fuel demand over the next forecast period. Adhesives are expected to emerge as the leading application segment owing to increasing demand for solvent-free formulations.

Increasing number of applications in end-use industries such as wood coatings, food packaging, automotive, printing, healthcare and electrical & electronics is anticipated to complement demand growth over the next seven years. Crude oil derivatives such as photoinitiators, oligomers, and monomers are major raw materials utilized in radiation-cure products.  

It is gaining wide acceptance in several niche applications due to advantages including ease-of-use, instantaneous cure, and low temperature curing. These products find wide application in dental industry such as sealants, composite restoratives, luting cements, and bonding agents. It replaced amalgam fillings in early 1970s and radiation cured industry participants are developing demand oriented fillings.

Several assembly adhesive applications include plastic or dissimilar material bonding and are additionally cured with moisture, catalyst, or heat. Increasing demand from lamination industry is further expected to fuel demand over the forecast period. Lamination applications include film-to-paper & film-to-film laminating, paper to composite-board laminates and DVD bonding.

Increasing infrastructure spending in emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America such as China, India, Vietnam, Brazil and Argentina is expected to drive demand over the next seven years. Stringent government norms regarding environmental compliance have lead to increased radiation cured products usage in wood coatings for infrastructure applications.

Escalating raw material prices owing to volatile crude oil prices is anticipated to hinder market growth and pose challenges to radiation cured industry participants over the forecast period. The technology is limited to several high-priced adhesive end-uses and is expected to flourish in development of other novel formulations and development due to environmental benefits, performance and combination of process. Aforementioned factors are expected to provide industry players with lucrative opportunities to increase radiation cured market penetration and visibility over the next seven years.

Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate over the forecast period owing to increasing demand in countries such as China, India, Japan, Philippines and Vietnam. Increasing demand for wood and automotive coatings due to increasing infrastructure spending coupled with growing automotive industry is anticipated to fuel demand in the region.

North America is expected to exhibit moderate growth rate owing to saturation in end-use industries. New applications development such as inkjet inks, water-based UV coatings and field-applied floor coatings are anticipated to drive demand in the region. Europe is expected to witness significant growth over the next seven years due to increasing demand from end-use industries such as food packaging and healthcare. Increasing infrastructure spending in the Middle East & Africa and Latin America is anticipated to drive industry growth over the forecast period.

Key industry participants operating in the global radiation cured market include 3M Company, BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG and Royal DSM N.V. Other players operating in the market include Toyo Ink Group, DYMAX Corp., Ashland Inc., DIC Corp., Allnex, Lord Corporation, Fujifilm Sericol UK Ltd., Dexirials Corp., Bayer Material Science AG, PPG Industries Inc., Sony Chemicals, Vantico Red Spot Paint & Varnish Company, Inc., Momentive Corp., Sun Chemical Corp., Craig Adhesives & Coatings and Flint Group.