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The plastic additives market comprises segments, including plasticizers, stabilizers, flame retardants, impact modifiers and processing aids, and others (includes antiblock, antistatic, slip, antimicrobial, antifog, and conductive additives, nucleating agents, blowing agents, and scavengers). By end-use industry type, the market has been divided into construction, automotive, consumer goods, packaging, and others (electrical and electronics and medical). Main end-product families covered in this study are Commodity Thermoplastics (CTP) and others (engineering plastics and thermoplastic elastomers).

Additives form an integral part of the polymer industry. They are extensively used to modify the properties of the plastic products during the compounding and processing stages. These materials are greatly valued across different end-use industries that extensively use plastic products, including construction, automotive, consumer goods, packaging, medical, and electrical and electronics. Thus, with the rising consumption of plastic products, the overall market for plastic additives is also expected to witness strong growth in the future. Development of sustainable and value-added plastic additives will gain momentum worldwide, thereby, driving the revenue growth of the plastic additives market. Although the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the overall plastic additives market in 2020, consumption has started to bounce back in 2021, followed by economic recovery and resumption of manufacturing activities. However, pre-pandemic levels of consumption will be attained only by 2023.

Plasticizers are expected to retain their dominant position in the global plastic additives market, both by value and volume, largely due to the substantial usage of these additives in high-volume flexible PVC products. Stabilizers are high-value, low-volume products and are often added to polymeric materials to inhibit their degradation against heat, Ultraviolet (UV) light, and oxidation throughout the product lifecycle. Flame retardants accounted for the second-largest volume share, after plasticizers, in 2020, owing to a wide usage of these products to prevent fire incidents across construction, automotive, and electrical and electronics industries. Impact modifiers are anticipated to witness increasing demand for greater durability of polymer products, while processing aids find usage for enhancing melt flow, heat dissipation, and mold release of plastic products during the processing stages. Growth in other plastic additives is mainly underpinned by the high demand from packaging-related applications, including flexible films, rigid bottles, and containers.