Growing demand for flame retardants in the construction industry

Practically nothing works without electricity. However, electricity is also the most common cause of fire, ahead of forgotten cigarettes or botched welding jobs.

Almost half of all flame retardants are therefore used for cables, electrical engineering, and electronics. Ceresana has investigated the global market for these chemicals, which prevent plastics and other flammable materials from igniting or at least slow down fires. A total of around 2.3Mt of flame retardants are currently used every year: Phosphorus, aluminium (ATH), or antimony (ATO) compounds, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, increasingly also bio-based additives.

Large quantities of flame-retardant coatings and gelcoats are not only needed for vehicles, charging stations, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. Although the construction industry is weakening in many countries, Ceresana expects the highest growth in demand for flame retardants in this application area: The market analysts forecast that demand in the construction sector will increase by an average of 3.2% per year until 2033. With suitable flame-retardant additives, virtually all materials can be protected against fire and its consequences, including plastics, textiles, wood, or paper. Even if they only make up a small proportion of the total weight, integrated flame retardants or anti-flame coatings are absolutely essential for polystyrene foam boards (EPS, XPS) and other insulating materials, but also, for example, for the sheathing of steel beams in buildings, for PVC windows and doors, for acrylic glass, carpet yarns, and adhesives.

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Increasingly, flame retardants are being customised for specific applications. Suitable bio-based flame retardants are being developed for bioplastics, for example from nanocellulose, lignin, soy proteins, or phytic acid. Aluminium trihydroxide (ATH), also known as aluminium hydroxide, is still by far the most frequently sold flame retardant worldwide, currently accounting for about 38% of the market. ATH is halogen-free and is considered relatively environmentally friendly. Other flame retardants, on the other hand, are increasingly being targeted by environmentalists and authorities because they release toxins, accumulate in living organisms, or can make the recycling of plastics more difficult. The EU Chemicals Agency ECHA, for example, is currently considering bans on all aromatic brominated and some organophosphorus flame retardants. Brominated flame retardants, which are used in particular for electrical products and foams, only account for 4.1% and 11.4% of the market in Western Europe and North America respectively, compared to 28.1% in Asia. Overall, most flame retardants are used in the Asia-Pacific region: This region of the world currently accounts for around 46% of total demand for flame retardants.

Further information on the new, already 8th edition of the market study “Flame Retardants – World Report”: https://ceresana.com/en/produkt/flame-retardants-market-report