Let’s “inject” some reality over the economic downturn in China: the world’s second largest economy is still hungry for automobiles and plastic-packaged goods, period. Ditto for India and Japan, all of which is driving the growth of the injection molding machine market in Asia. In fact, if current trends continue, the overall plastic injection molding machine market should balloon to $4, 860,000,000 USD in five years.
The most popular machines currently are the all-electric models, which feature low-energy consumption, low maintenance cost, short production cycle time, and high accuracy. Advantech has several all-electric models, including five Husky Hylectric 330 tonnage behemoths.
Of course, the injection molding machine market isn’t limited to plastic — you can inject other materials such as rubber, metal and ceramic into molds and produce goods, too, of course. In recent years, the industry has seen the growing popularity of micro-injection molding, gas injection molding, and liquid silicone rubber injection molding. But plastic, by far, is the big dog in the room, a dominance that’s expected to continue between 2016 and 2021 due to growing demand from industries such as automotive, consumer goods, and packaging.
The automotive sector is driving most of the growth, as improving living standards in the aforementioned nations fuel an insatiable desire for cars. Injection molding machines are predominantly used in manufacturing automotive components, such as door handles, head-and-tail-light lenses, interior panels, and countless other parts.
The injection molding machine market is commonly segmented into five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America, with Asia-Pacific by far the largest market, followed by Europe, which will probably be the fastest growing during this period. Currently, the global injection molding machine market is dominated by a dozen or so market players, such as Haitian International Holdings Limited (China), Chen Hsong Holdings Limited (China), Sumitomo Heavy Industries (Japan), Milacron Holdings Corp. (U.S.) , Engel Austria GmbH (Austria), Nissei Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd, (Japan), Arburg GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (Canada), Dongshin Hydraulic Co., Ltd. (Korea), The Japan Steel Works Ltd. (Japan), KraussMaffei Group GmbH (Germany), Negri Bossi S.P.A. (Italy), among, others.