Expanded PTFE (ePTFE) Market Analysis | 2020-2025

Market Insights

The expanded PTFE (ePTFE) market was estimated at USD 533 million in 2019 and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% during 2020-2025 to reach USD 667 million in 2025.

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Market Dynamics

Introduction

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was inadvertently discovered by DuPont in 1938. It has become the most widely used fluoropolymer in the world with its usage in various industries, such as oil & gas, electronics & telecommunication, automotive, food & beverages, and pharmaceuticals. It offers excellent properties, such as dielectric, low friction, hydrophobic, non-wetting, high density, and high-temperature resistance. With regards to the growing needs of the industry, such as lightweight, cost-effective, pliable; W.L. Gore & Associates experimented with PTFE, to increase its applications by improving its properties with the help of the heating process. Gore has implemented heating the PTFE rods and then gradually pulling them from either end. After many iterations, Gore finally discovered expanded PTFE in the year 1969.

The expanded PTFE exhibits several properties and benefits over PTFE such as excellent resistance to cold flow and creep, high compressibility, low dielectric constant, low coefficient of friction, non-flammability, and a wide service temperature range of -240°C to 250°C. Owing to such fruitful properties, expanded PTFE has witnessed remarkable growth in the market with an incessant increase in its applications in different end-use industries, such as medical, textiles, aerospace & defense, automotive, industrial, and chemical.

Market Drivers

The major factors driving the growth of the expanded PTFE (ePTFE) market are:

• Expected recovery in global economy 
• Growing global medical devices market 
• Expected recovery in commercial and regional aircraft deliveries 
• Expected increase in automotive production 
• Expected Recovery in chemical production

COVID-19 Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the market by disrupting the growth trajectory of several end-use industries. The pandemic has exacerbated the existing challenges of already struggling automotive and aerospace industries with delays in B737 max approval, production halts, and curtailment in production rates. Also, the lockdown in several major countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 has marked an indelible dent in the market growth, making complete recovery almost negligible in the remaining quarter of 2020.

However, there are a few industries that remain unaffected/negligibly affected by COVID-19 out of which major ones are medical, food & beverages, and electrical & electronics. Healthy organic growth of these industries, especially medical devices and electronics, is expected to partially offset the overall decline of the market in 2020.

Assessing the real impact of the pandemic on the expanded PTFE market in the short term as well as long term is extremely challenging in the present scenario as the pandemic is still spreading, taking the major economies in its grip and further deteriorating the market conditions. It is difficult to state when the impact of the pandemic starts to fade away. However, the industry is still optimistic about the quick recovery of the market, and it is anticipated that the market will log a V-shaped curve similar to previous downturns, such as the Great Recession. But the curve of the V-shape would be deeper than the ones registered in the Great Recession with huge short-term repercussions and minimal long-term impact.

Strong fundamentals of the market, such as expected recovery in the global GDP by 2021, incessant adoption of EVs in the world, and expected recovery in airline passenger traffic coupled with market entries of new aircraft programs: B777X, C919, MC-21, A321XLR, and expected approval of B737Max; is likely to signpost a healthy recovery of the market once the headwinds of the pandemic turn into tailwinds.

Segment Analysis

By Form Type

"Membranes are expected to dominate the market, capturing more than 45% of the market share during the forecast period"

The expanded PTFE market is segmented into sheets, tapes, membranes, fibers, and others. Membranes are likely to remain the most dominant as well as the fastest-recovering form type in the post-pandemic market scenario, owing to their extensive usage in the medical industry for applications such as ostomy bags, hearing aids, IV infusion filters, and surgical suction filters.

By Application Type

"Filtration and separation are expected to dominate the market, holding more than 45% of the market share during the forecast period"

The market is segmented into gaskets, filtration & separation, dielectric materials, and others. Filtration & Separation is likely to maintain its dominance in the market during the forecast period. The dominance is majorly due to wide usage of expanded PTFE for filtering air, water, and other particles in turbine engines, drug discovery, and bioprocessing; filtering fogs from headlights of a vehicle; and venting gas from compression packings and medical applications, such as IV filter vent and ventilation, coupled with increasing penetration of ePTFE for filtration application in various industries, such as food packaging, pharmaceuticals, and metals & mining.

By End-Use Industry Type

"The medical sector is expected to dominate the market, accounting for more than 30% of the market share during the forecast period"

The market is segmented into chemical, ground transportation, medical, industrial, aerospace & defense, and others. Among them, aerospace & defense and automotive are the worst affected industries due to the pandemic, whereas medical is the least affected one. The medical industry is also likely to remain the most dominant as well as the fastest-growing end-use industry type in the expanded PTFE market over the next five years.

Medical device manufacturers widely accept expandable PTFE in offering tailor-made properties with better biocompatibility than metallic biomaterials. Biocompatibility, chemically inert, and sterilizable are the three key properties of ePTFE due to which it is highly preferred for various applications in the medical industry.

Regional Analysis

"North America is expected to dominate the market, holding more than 35% of the market share during the forecast period"

In terms of region, North America is projected to remain the largest market for expanded PTFE during the forecast period. The USA is not only the largest market in North America but also in the world, owing to the presence of a large number of medical device manufacturers, aircraft OEMs, tier players, raw material suppliers, and expanded PTFE manufacturers. The country is also one of the most affected nations by COVID-19 with the largest number of positive cases in the world. It is also expected that the country to recover at a healthy rate, backed by the organic growth of the medical industry, expected recovery in automobile and aircraft production, and advancements in medical devices.

Asia-Pacific is expected to be the least-declined market, followed by the fastest recovery over the next five years, propelled by an expected recovery in air passenger traffic with early recovery in domestic travel and an expected recovery in automotive production with a higher focus on adopting HEVs. China and India are the growth engines of Asia-Pacific’s market as they are the largest markets for automotive, chemical, industrial, electrical & electronics as well as owning a considerable share in the other end-use industries.

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Key Players

The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, expanded PTFE manufacturers, distributors, and end-users.

Some of the key players in the expanded PTFE (ePTFE) market are-

• Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A.
• Donaldson Company, Inc.
• Lenzing Plastics GmbH & Co. KG
• Markel Corporation
• Nitto Denko Corporation
• Parker-Hannifin Corporation
• Rogers Corporation
• Teadit Group
• W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
• Zeus Industrial Products, Inc.

The key end-users of these markets include medical device manufacturers, aircraft OEMs, automotive manufacturers, chemical industry, and oil & gas manufacturers.

Note: The above list does not necessarily include all the top players in the market.

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Research Methodology

• This strategic assessment report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today’s expanded PTFE (ePTFE) market realities and future market possibilities for the forecast period.
• The report segments and analyzes the market in the most detailed manner to provide a panoramic view of the market.
• The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for market participants as well as investors in the identification of the low-hanging fruits available in the market as well as to formulate growth strategies to expedite their growth process.
• This report offers high-quality insights and is the outcome of a detailed research methodology comprising extensive secondary research, rigorous primary interviews with industry stakeholders, and validation and triangulation with Stratview Research’s internal database and statistical tools.
• More than 1,000 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact books, press releases, journals, investor presentations, white papers, patents, and articles, have been leveraged to gather the data.
• We conducted more than 15 detailed primary interviews with market players across the value chain in all four regions and industry experts to obtain both qualitative and quantitative insights.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into market dynamics and will enable strategic decision-making for existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

• Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.
• Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.
• Market trend and forecast analysis.
• Market segment trend and forecast.
• Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, Service portfolio, New Product Launches, etc.
• COVID-19 impact and its recovery curve
• Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.
• Emerging trends.
• Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.
• Key success factors.

Market Segmentation

This report studies the market covering 12 years of trend and forecast. The report provides detailed insights into the market dynamics to enable informed business decision-making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.

The expanded PTFE (ePTFE) market is segmented into the following categories:

By Form Type 

• Sheets
• Tapes
• Membranes
• Fibers
• Others

By Application Type 

• Gaskets
• Filtration & Separation
• Dielectric Materials
• Others

By End-Use Industry Type 

• Chemical
• Ground Transportation
• Medical
• Industrial
• Aerospace & Defense
• Others

Customization Options

With this detailed report, Stratview Research offers one of the following free customization options to our respectable clients:

Company Profiling

• Detailed profiling of additional market players (up to three players)
• SWOT analysis of key players (up to three players)

Competitive Benchmarking

• Benchmarking of key players on the following parameters: Product portfolio, geographical reach, regional presence, and strategic alliances

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