Hollow Microspheres Market Report

Market Insights

Hollow microspheres are low density, lightweight fillers that add volume without significantly adding weight. Weight reduction, viscosity reduction, cost-saving through lower resin consumption, enhanced mold flow, and improved resistance are the key benefits offered by these microspheres. The hollow microsphere includes various lightweight fillers: hollow glass microspheres, foam glass granulates, cenosphere, perlite microspheres, and expanded polymer microspheres; with density ranging from 0.1 to 0.63 g/cc in general. These microspheres are widely used for a variety of applications with each of them is suitable for the application. For instance, hollow glass microspheres and expanded polymer microspheres are widely used in paints & coatings and plastics & rubber applications, whereas foam glass granulates, cenosphere, and perlite microspheres are more used in construction material applications.

Hollow microspheres have witnessed a remarkable journey with its increasing adoption into different end-use industries to leverage weight reduction benefits. Owing to their usage in various end-use industries, hollow microspheres dominated the overall microspheres market in 2020. Key market stakeholders of the industry have heavily been investing in R&Ds in order to develop advanced products better addressing the market challenges. The major players of the market are serving only one or two types of microspheres.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Hollow Microspheres Market

Increasing demand for lightweight materials to curb emissions and to meet the fuel-efficiency targets, such as CAFÉ standards, in the automotive industry, the regulation to reduce volatile organic compound in the paints & coatings and rising demand for the energy-efficient buildings were the major factors that had helped hollow microspheres to grow at the healthy pace till 2019. While the market was expecting to continue its remarkable growth in 2020.

However, the rapid spread of the pandemic devastated hope. The pandemic exacerbated the existing challenges of key demand generators including automotive and construction, weakened the industry sales to its lowest figure of the decade. The global automotive production is estimated to decline by -22% in 2020 amid the pandemic. Analogously, major aircraft manufacturers, such as Airbus, have already curtailed the production rates of their key programs. The growth of the construction sector is estimated to contract to merely 0.5% in 2020, 2.5%-3.0% lower than pre-COVID projections.

Currently, to assess the real impact of the pandemic on the market in the short and long term is challenging as the pandemic is still spreading, taking the economies in its grip. It is difficult to state that when the impact of the pandemic starts to fade away. Based on the study of market recoveries in previous downturns (The Great Recession, SARS, etc.) coupled with primary interviews across the supply chain, Stratview estimates suggest that the market for hollow microspheres is likely to rebound from 2021 onwards, followed by maintaining sequential growth till 2026, ultimately reaching a landmark figure of US$ 4.1 billion by 2026.

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Segments' Analysis

Hollow Microspheres Market Share by Material Type

Based on the material type, the hollow microspheres market is segmented as hollow glass microsphere, foam glass granulates, cenosphere, perlite microsphere, and expanded polymer microsphere. The hollow glass microsphere is likely to remain the most preferred microsphere type in the market in the coming years. Hollow glass microspheres are increasingly finding usage in plastics & rubber applications such as SMCs, injection-molded parts, packaging films, and wood composites. Similarly in paints & coatings, such as in acrylic and industrial latex paints, solar reflective coatings, and epoxy coatings; in construction materials, such as engineered wood, kitchen sinks, putties, caulks and sealants, washbasins and bathtubs, wall, sealing, gaps, cracks, interior and exterior use on walls, lightweight cement slurries and other applications such as agriculture, buoyancy modules and risers, deep-sea pipe and flowline insulation.

Expanded polymer microsphere, currently holding a diminutive position as compared to hollow glass microspheres, is estimated to capture some share of other hollow microspheres, especially of hollow glass microspheres in the coming years. Expanded polymer microspheres usually expand about 60 times their original size without the addition of weight. Furthermore, the density of the expanded polymer microsphere is relatively low than the hollow glass microsphere. Expanded polymer microspheres are gaining tractions in paints & coatings, plastics & rubbers, and construction materials, such as crack fillers, polyester putties, and cultured marble.

Hollow Microspheres Market Share by Application Type

Based on the application type, the market is classified as plastics & rubber, paint & coatings, construction materials, and others. Plastics & rubber is likely to remain the most dominant application segment, in terms of value, in the hollow microspheres market during the forecast period. Plastics are replacing metals for years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency. Now research is focused on low-density plastics that are further lighter in weight without compromising performance. Contrary to the traditional fillers (talc, calcium carbonate, and clay with a specific density of 2.5 to 2.8 g/cm3), hollow microspheres with a specific density of less than 0.6 g/cm3 help in 10-30% plastic parts’ weight reduction. Hollow microspheres also improve productivity by reducing energy consumption, cost, and cycle time (by 25%). .

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Regional Insights

In terms of regions, all regions are expected to mark a huge decline in 2020 in the wake of the rapid spread of the pandemic across regions. However, Europe, currently holding the leading position, will manage its lead in the global market by 2026, propelled by Germany. Increased demand for hollow microspheres in fuel-efficient vehicles and energy-efficient homes in the region are the major factors behind the dominance of Europe in the market