Piping and tubing (P/T, with the term tubing used to describe small diameter pipe; it is also often flexible), and the U.S. industries that fabricate and install these materials, seemingly are rather prosaic businesses, something that most people take more or less for granted as part of civilized life. After all, pipes and tubes transport water to our houses and businesses and carry away our liquid wastes. They also transport virtually all liquid and gaseous products over short distances (such as a milk transfer line in a dairy) or long ones (such as a transcontinental petroleum products pipeline). Most individuals would not consider a water transmission or sewer line as particularly high tech.
However, the piping industry is quite sophisticated and newer materials, especially the plastics covered in this study, are especially so. Not only are new materials and technologies coming into use to compete with older ones, but P/T is used in a number of industries in which fluid transport is not involved. These include the electrical and electronics industry’s use for conduits and other means of carrying conductors and other wires. Mechanical tubing is used for furniture and light poles. There is piping and tubing that merely moves the same fluid through a closed loop, for example, in refrigeration and air conditioning systems and in hot water heating systems.
Since humankind first learned to transport fluids through hollow tubes, piping and tubing have become important parts of modern technology and lifestyles. Over the years, many different materials have been and continue to be used for pipe and tubing. These include metals like iron, steel, copper and aluminum; inorganic materials like clay and concrete; and plastics, the subject of this report.
This is a new study, but it takes much of its background from older BCC Research studies and reports on piping and tubing. In this study, we focus on U.S. applications and markets for plastic pipe, and our market analyses, estimates and forecasts are all on plastic pipe. For background and comparison, we include some history, technology and applications for other piping materials, since most of them compete directly with plastic pipe in important applications such as residential water and drainage lines and longer distance sewers and petroleum products pipelines.
More information @ U.S. Plastic Pipe Market
Report Details:
No. of Pages: 161
The competition is more intense these days, with the current and rather poor economic situation and outlook for pipe markets in the U.S. (and also much of the industrialized western world). Many major cities still are suffering from commercial vacancy rates of 20% or more, and new construction often must wait until this backlog of space is occupied, modified for another use or razed/abandoned. There was a recent commercial and residential building boom that lasted several years, spurred by rising real estate and housing prices, all of which collapsed in 2008 with the housing “bubble” that led the U.S. into the “great recession” that we are only now starting to inch our way out of.
Consolidation, restructuring and retrenchment in the plastics manufacturing and other industries also have adversely affected the P/T industries in recent years. To be sure, manufacturing plant modernization and modification requires piping and tubing, but it is not equal to the amount required to build an entirely new plant that replaces an older facility. These situations also change, for example, in petrochemical plants. U.S. plants were closed and operations moved to cheaper locations like China, until the recent boom in shale gas production led to such a low drop in the price of U.S. natural gas that this country is again a low-cost petrochemicals producer. Old mothballed plants are being restarted here, and new ones are now under construction.
Major industrial users like chemicals and petroleum manufacturers have suffered from lower demands and resulting overcapacity as well as low margins. Until the economy picks up at a faster pace, BCC Research believes the P/T industry will continue to stay in a somewhat depressed state, at least when compared with previous growth rates. Plastic pipe and tubing, products that are used in common commercial and residential construction and products, usually grow (or don’t grow) at about the same rate as the overall U.S. Growth Domestic Product (GDP). Current GDP rates and near-term projections are not very high, which means corresponding lower growth in plastic pipe and tubing.
The fight for markets, coupled with ongoing technical improvements in newer piping materials, has, if anything, increased an already very competitive situation. Newer, competing materials are primarily plastics, many of which are cheaper, lighter and better able to withstand environmental attacks such as corrosion. In addition, these materials are easier to install and maintain. This gives plastic pipe several advantages over other materials, and is a primary reason for concentrating on plastic pipe in this study and report.
It is the goal of this report to give readers a comprehensive update on the state of the U.S. plastic pipe industry, and where BCC research believes it is headed (with market estimates and forecasts through 2016). These objectives include
- Descriptions of the plastic pipe and tubing industry, its importance to the functioning and quality of life, and its future prospects.
- Descriptions of many plastic P/T products and their major end-use markets in the U.S., including description and discussion of major types of piping and tubing by resin types and key applications, and the driving forces behind demand.
- An analysis and market estimate of U.S. plastic pipe industry production and shipments in the base year 2011 and growth forecasts through 2016 for several major American plastic P/T materials and applications markets.
- Descriptions of manufacturing methods used to make important types of commercial plastic piping and tubing.
- Identification of many major American plastic pipe and tubing suppliers.
- Identification and discussion of some major industry dynamics, including competition between different piping materials, distribution and sales, and effects on the U.S. industry resulting from activities of foreign firms.
- Descriptions of some recent trends and new developments in plastic pipe and tubing technology.
- Discussions of environmental and governmental regulatory issues and factors that affect the plastic P/T industry, with emphasis on important codes, standards and related factors.
This study primarily focuses on the U.S. It is concerned with estimates for the U.S. plastic pipe and tubing market based on products produced by domestic pipe and tubing fabricators. However, as noted above in the report’s objectives, the business has some international implications, given the current global nature of business and trade when no nation or region can operate without considering the rest of the world.
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY
BCC Research performed this study to provide a comprehensive and updated reference for those interested and/or involved with the U.S. plastic pipe and tubing industries and that both serve and benefit from these industries. This is a wide and varied group of personnel in the chemicals, polymer, mechanical equipment and parts companies, both for original P/T manufacture (OEM) and maintenance/ replacement parts. BCC Research sorted through, organized and condensed information from a large amount of literature and other reference materials to compile this report.
Some quite significant, but more evolutionary and revolutionary changes have taken place in the past generation or so. These continue to take place today and probably will do so for the foreseeable future, as new materials compete for positioning in a mature market. Intermaterial competition is a way of life in a technologically advanced society, but few industries have so many different competing materials. These range from old standbys like clay and concrete to newer high-tech plastics.
Complicating the situation are the technical and political factors of local building codes. They either can advance or hinder growth of a particular type of pipe in any one of several different types of service. P/T developers and producers must be aware of these factors as well as the activities of their competitors, both in their own materials and in other materials and processes. A good recurring example that directly affects this study comes from the building trade unions, especially plumbers, who, in several jurisdictions, successfully have slowed or even prevented the use of cheaper and often better plastic piping in residential and commercial structures.
CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY AND ITS INTENDED AUDIENCE
One can argue that piping systems have been one of the primary contributions to the development of civilization as we know it. From ancient civilizations to the present day, piping has been used to move liquids, primarily for water service and waste drainage. As a result, piping is so ingrained in our lives that we seldom think about it unless a new project cuts through our neighborhood, a water main breaks and floods local streets or some other event reminds us of the huge piping infrastructure that exists around (and beneath) us. More and more of this infrastructure is being made of plastic materials, including pipe and tubing.
This huge infrastructure should make this report of interest to a wide group of organizations and individuals, people who are involved in the development, design, manufacture, sale and use of P/T materials (plastics and competing materials), as well as politicians on all levels and the general public. BCC Research feels this report will be of value to technical and business personnel in the following areas, among others:
- Marketing and management personnel in companies that produce, market and sell all types of piping and tubing, as well as forming and installing equipment and parts, components, maintenance materials and chemicals for cleaning and other uses. Producers of other pipe and tubing materials will be interested to learn about the current situation in plastic competition.
- Companies that supply, or want to supply, equipment and services to plastic piping and tubing supply companies.
- Financial institutions that supply money for such facilities and systems, including banks, merchant bankers, venture capitalists and others.
- Personnel in end-user companies, communities and industries that purchase and use plastic P/T equipment.
- Government personnel, because plastic piping is used at all levels, from the smallest town to the interstate highway system and the nation’s capitol building; all local, state and federal officials are involved in writing and enforcing piping standards to ensure and protect public health and safety and the environment.
SCOPE AND FORMAT
This study provides in depth coverage of many of the most important economic, technological, political, regulatory and environmental considerations involving domestic markets for U.S. production and use of materials and equipment in the plastic pipe and tubing industries. Pipes and tubes are made from materials ranging from inorganic clays and concrete to iron and steel, and to commodity and specialty polymers. This study focuses on plastic pipe and tubing, with reference in many places to older competing materials.
This report includes key technologies (and new technologies), the markets and some key companies that make up the U.S. plastic pipe and tubing industry and all its ramifications. This primarily is a study of U.S. activities and markets, but because of the global nature of most industries, it touches on some noteworthy international activities. These primarily are those that could have an impact on domestic business and markets and include actions by foreign-based companies in U.S. markets and the effects of imports.
Demands are estimated for the base year of 2011, and forecast for five years through 2016. All market volume figures usually are rounded to the nearest million pounds. All five-year growth rates are compounded (signified as compounded annual growth rates or CAGRs). Because of this rounding, some growth rates may not agree exactly with figures in the market tables, especially for differences in small volumes.
This report in segmented into 10 chapters, with this being the first.
The summary encapsulates findings and conclusions, and includes summary major market tables. It is where a busy executive can find the study’s key findings in a condensed format.
Contact: [email protected] for more details of this report.
