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According to our statistics, the worldwide glass reinforcement market was about 4.8 billion pounds in the year 2002. From 1996 to 2002, the glass reinforcement market showed an average growth of 4.24% per year, almost twice the average growth rates of GDP for the industrialized countries.
Note: Our figures and all others listed in this section do not include either the wet-formed glass mats or alkali-resistant glass markets.
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The main geographic markets for glass reinforcement applications are North America (33%), Europe (32%) and Asia (30%). Asia is a fast developing area because some Asian countries are now favored locations for chemicals, electronics and telecommunications equipment (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia).
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The North America reinforcement market is segmented as follows:
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The reinforcements market in North America is used extensively for applications in the transportation, building and construction, marine, and industrial equipment sectors. The transportation sector dominates in North America with 31% of the reinforcement market. The marine market in North America is the largest in the world, and represents 12% of the North America market.
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Glass reinforcements are used in many different molding processes. The North America market is dominated by thermoplastic compounding and open molding. The pultrusion market in North America is the largest in the world, and represents 12% of the North America market.
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