High-pressure molding: From the raw material to the finished part

2023-02-01

Injection molding is one of the most important processes in the plastics industry. “3D printing may be faster and not require expensive molds,” says Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana: “But injection is still unbeatable when it comes to cost-effectively producing plastic products of virtually any size or shape in huge quantities.”Ceresana has studied the European market for injection-molded plastics: Almost 12.9 million tons of plastics were processed using this method in Europe last year.

Polypropylene for injection molding

Melting a plastic granulate and injecting it into a hollow mold at high pressure is best done with thermoplastics and thermoplastic elastomers. However, more and more bioplastics are being used in this process. The most important type of plastic for injection is polypropylene (PP): Ceresana expects the demand for products made with polypropylene to grow by an average of 1.5% per year over the next ten years. Polyethylene-HDPE follows in second place, with a market share of about 17%. The current study also analyzes the market of polyethylene-LDPE and LLDPE, polyamide (PA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC) and other types of plastic. There are great differences in the different fields of application: In the packaging sector, for example, polypropylene accounts for about 71% of the demand, while in the construction sector it only accounts for 16%.

Mass-produced products for all walks of life

Dashboards and children’s toys, medical syringes and electrical switches, toothbrushes and fiberglass-reinforced aircraft parts – injection-molded plastic products are part of our everyday life. The most important sales market, with a volume of about 4.5 million tons, is the packaging industry, which uses them mainly to protect food products: Containers, cans, trays, boxes and closures of all kinds. The inscriptions and labels can be integrated directly into ice cream cups or other plastic parts using in-mold labeling (IML). The printed sheets are inserted into the injection mold and then perfectly melted with the injected liquid plastic. Keyboards for mobile phones and computers are also manufactured in this way. However, the second most important application area of plastic injection molding is products for the automotive industry. Ceresana forecasts that European demand in this sector will increase by 2.1% per year until 2031.
Current analysis of the plastic injection molding market
Chapter 1 provides a description of the European plastics market in injection molding, including forecasts up to 2031. The demand and income of Western and Eastern European countries are presented.

The demand for different types of plastics is also analyzed:

• Polypropylene (PP)
• Polyethylene (LDPE/LLDPE)
• Polyethylene (HDPE)
• Polyamide (PA)
• Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Polycarbonate (PC)
• Other types of plastic.

The following application areas of injection molded plastics are examined:

• Packaging
• Construction
• Transport
• Electricity and electronics
• Industrial products
• Other applications

Chapter 2 provides specific market data for 22 European countries i.e. demand and revenue. The demand is analyzed in detail for various application areas and individual product types.

Chapter 3 provides a useful directory of the 80 most important European companies in the field of plastic injection molding. It is clearly structured based on contact details, revenues, profits, product range, production sites and a brief profile.

The companies presented include Amcor Limited, Aptargroup Holding GmbH, Bemis Manufacturing Company, Bericap, Berry Global, Inc, ElringKlinger Kunststofftechnik GmbH, Essentra plc, Magna International, Inc, Mauser Group B.V., Röchling SE & Co. KG, and Silgan Holdings Inc.