PP pr Polypropylene is a big market in US and as per the current global scenario, PP is majorly used by injection molding applications. The reason for extensive use for this purpose is its quality which does not alter even after melting and molding. Polypropylene has a wide range of properties that make it most useful for several industries these properties include its tensile strength, high chemical resistance, low moisture absorption, and superior working temperature.
Several technologies like Unipol PP, novolen PP, hypol, sherinoze, borstar PP, sumitomo, spheripol and others can be integrated with PP. The market growth of PP has been grown efficiently especially for lightweight and efficient plastic for automotive and packaging industries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of PP has been interrupted and the demand was decreased from the building, construction, and automotive industries. The collapsed demand has resulted in the price of crude oil falling significantly.
Why PP is Used Extensively?
The PP plastic is considered as the safest plastic in comparison to other counterpart plastic material. They do not leave any harmful chemical when used as food containers as well. PP plastic is heat resistant, tough, flexible and moisture-free, As the PP plastic containers are microwave-safe so it is considered as the topmost choice for food containers.
They are also used to manufacture baby bottles, plastic cups, food containers and other kitchenware items. The consumers can identify the material easily so the products are usually market as PP. Apart from this the recycling code for PP is “5”, so they can be recycled many times.
However, continuously recycled PP plastic gets thermally degraded as well. The bonding of thermally degraded plastic becomes weak so it has to be disposed by other means as well. In the US market almost 95% of the batteries are manufactured by PP and they all are then recycled.
PP polymers are recycled a lot and there is a huge market of recycled PP. Moreover, PP does not produce much solid waste and consume less energy. During the manufacturing process less carbon dioxide gas is produced. This makes the PP plastic more environment-friendly as compared to its other variants.
PP Price Hike
There are very few suppliers of PP and they are not able to meet the market demand perfectly. Due to various problems the supply has been decreased a lot and as a result the local manufacturers have raised the prices as well. As per industry sources the price will continuously increase until market will not get any stable input.
Since last few months the prices of PP is rising continuously, particularly after lockdown. The prices were risen globally a lot approximately 40% from its current price. The price of polyster fibre, polypropylene and high-density poly ethylene were increased simultaneously. The price of low-density poly ethylene has also been increased a lot.
Pros and Cons of PP
High Use of PP has some advantages and disadvantages that we are going to discuss right here:
- Advantages:
- PP material in inexpensive and available
- Semi-cystalline nature of PP offers high flexural strength
- Polymer is heat-resistant and tough
- Polymers have high melting point
- While processing they perform excellently due to aesthetic properties
- Cons:
- PP is highly flammable
- PP does not have good bonding properties
- They are prone to UV degradation and oxidation
- PP material cannot be used for high-temperature applications due to its high thermal expansion coefficient
- PP polymer has poor resistance to aromatics
Final Words
Polypropylene has been a fastest growing sector in and around the world. The global demand of PP has been reached to around 218 tons. PP woven bags has been used by several industries for various processes and its application industries include FMCG, automobiles, housing, health-care, infrastructure, textile and other due to its ease of manufacturing, versatility, affordability and cost efficiency. But the price of PP is going to raise due to this lockdown or pandemic. The imbalance between its supply and demand of PP is the main reason behind price-hike of PP. The local vendors have increased the rates during pandemic and for few next months the price will not come down as per experts.
