Brazilian composites consumption falls 4.2% in first half of 2022
Despite the drop, total revenue registers 17% higher compared to January to June 2021, a mismatch that ALMACO says is due to successive raw material price increases.
The transport sector represented 24.7% of composites consumption in Brazil in the first half of 2022. Photo Credit: ALMACO
According to a survey carried out by the Latin American Composite Materials Association (ALMACO, São Paulo, Brazil), in the first half of 2022 Brazilian consumption of composites fell by 4.2%, totaling 117,000 tons. Total revenue reached $359 million, 17% higher than that recorded between January and June 2021. The mismatch between consumption and revenue is due to successive increases in raw material prices.
“This result means much more an accommodation of demand, after the explosion in 2020 and 2021, than a fall itself,” Erika Bernardino Aprá, president of ALMACO, evaluates.
According to the ALMACO survey, in the first half of 2022, civil construction accounted for 30.9% of Brazilian consumption of composites, ahead of transport (24.7%), corrosion/sanitation (17.5%), leisure/pools (12.4%), electric energy (5.2%), wind energy (3.1%), marine (2.1%) and clothing (1%), among others. When only the consumption of epoxy resin-based composites is separated, the generation of wind energy led with 90.5%, ahead of oil (3.8%) and electronics (2.7%).
“The drop in demand from the construction and leisure market, the latter represented mainly by swimming pools, was partially mitigated by the good phase of the transport industry, especially road buses, whose sales increased after the resumption of post-pandemic tourism,” Bernardino Aprá adds.
For 2022 as a whole, ALMACO’s study points to a retraction in consumption of around 2.5%, which will total 239,000 tons. In terms of revenue, the Brazilian composites sector should register $922 million this year, a figure 20% higher than that recorded in 2021.
“The second half of the year is historically better for our industry than the first,” the president continues. “Added to this is the start of major projects in the area of corrosion, a movement that will positively impact many companies in the composites production chain.”
