Segments - Global Non-woven Abrasives Market by Product Types (Hand Pads, Belts, Discs, Rolls, Wheels, and Others), Target Substrate (Metal, Glass, Plastic, Composite, Wood, and Ceramic), Applications (Construction, Transportation, Electronics & Semiconductors, Industrial/ Metal fabrication, and Others), and Regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast 2021 – 2028
The global Non-woven Abrasives market was size valued at USD 1,588.7 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 2,453.4 million by 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period 2021-2030.
Non-woven abrasives are 3-D networks of fibers that are embedded with resins and abrasive globules. Usually, the fiber is nylon or some other synthetic material. This type of abrasives ranges from silicon carbide to aluminum oxide or ceramic alumina. It is converted into different forms such as flap discs, flap wheels, pads, belts, and discs, used in various electric tools.
The new generations of non-woven abrasives offer advantages such as long life, fast cut rate, and reduced rework due to smearing. Multiple operations are performed with one non-woven abrasive disc. In the past, when the resin was overheated, it often resulted in smearing the work surface. Lately, the bond chemistry eliminated the phenomenon. Top performance particles such as the ceramic alumina possess a sharp micro crystal structure, which permits coarse grits to be created out of fine particles, thus, transforming the cut rate and overall life of non-woven abrasives.
Use of new generation non-woven abrasives aids in the efficiency of various industries. In aerospace manufacturing, advanced surface conditioning non-woven abrasives are employed in blending & deburring applications, which allow reduction of cycle times. Smear-free performance of non-woven abrasives reduced labor requirements for surface finishing operations in automotive and transportation sectors. Novel non-woven technology is employed the in oil & gas industry in deburring of pipe threads to facilitate rapid pipeline fittings.
Non-woven abrasives use different types of abrasive grains and these grains vary according to coarseness. A commonly used industrial mineral is aluminum oxide, which is used individually or in a combination with other materials to form abrasive grains. Aluminum oxide is joined with emery and crocus to manufacture abrasives that are fitting for applications such as finishing. Silicon carbide is another material, which is harder in comparison to aluminum oxide, but more friable than fused aluminum oxide grains. Silicon carbide is employed in non-ferrous applications.
Varying sizes of coarseness are available to be used in non-woven surface conditioning abrasives. Products with coarse grit have a grit size of around 50–80 grit and are designed for heavy duty surface preparation, aggressive cutting, and descaling applications. Products with medium grit generally lie in the range of 100– 50 grit and are employed in applications such as rust removal, blending, cleaning, and light cutting.
Nonwoven products with a fine grit fall between 180–220 grit, whereas very fine lie between 240-360 grit, ultrafine near to 600 grit, and micro-fine ranges between 800-1200 grit. Fine grits are employed in polishing and paint preparation applications.
The Non-woven Abrasives market is expected to expand significantly over the forecast period, due to its use in numerous applications such as Construction, Transportation, Electronics & Semiconductors, Industrial/ Metal fabrication, and Others. These factors are anticipated to boost the growth of Non-woven Abrasives market over the forecast period.
The market is driven by factors such as increasing need for designs such as Non-woven Abrasives stems, rising awareness regarding the advantages and benefits of Non-woven Abrasives, growing adoption of Non-woven Abrasives in telecommunication applications, cloud computing drives changes in network chip architectures.
Conversely, designing the Non-woven Abrasives is a major challenge. Non-woven Abrasives are widely used in cutting, grinding, polishing, lapping, buffing, and other applications. Non-woven Abrasives are used in surface conditioning. This is expected to boost the demand for non-woven Abrasives products during the forecast period. Market players are focused on products such as discs, wheels, belts, stars, cones and buffs. These factors are anticipated to drive the demand for Non-woven Abrasives during the forecast period.
The COVID-19 outbreak had a substantial impact on the non-woven abrasives market, resulting in low sales and low GDP. COVID 19 caused the manufacturing processes of various companies around the world to come to a halt in order to slow the spread of virus. The economy of numerous countries has been badly hit as a result of COVID 19 and purchasing power of companies is shrinking rapidly, due to slow commercial activity. The coronavirus pandemic revealed supply chain vulnerabilities and emphasized on the complexities of globalized supply chains and the importance of having a stable supply chain to nullify trade barricades.
Manufacturers of non-woven abrasives are adopting different approaches to build robustness and resilience in supply chains, majorly through mergers & acquisitions. Rapid growth of urbanization aids in expanding several industries such as the manufacturing industry, metal fabrication industry, aerospace industry, automobile industry, construction industry, and electronic industry, which is boosting the demand for non-woven abrasives in the coming years.
Non-woven abrasives are used in trucks, buses, and other vehicles for weld blending, frame repair, and surface preparations such as scratching and blending. By providing fast, lubricate-free operation, vehicle manufacturers increase productivity by reducing labor costs in surface finishing operations. Non-woven fabric imparts a uniform finish to the contour surface without affecting the critical tolerance of the previous molding process or machine. This function is important in the finishing process.
The most common method of removing deep scratches is to use various coated abrasives such as 80, 120, and 180 grit sizes. Each abrasive produces a fine finish by removing the previous deep scratches. This step reduced the number of steps in the process, which results in significant cost savings in labor. Thus, the growing demand from surface contouring applications is estimated to drive the non-woven abrasives market.
Metal fabrication includes processes used to produce items, components, and structures from raw metal. Non-woven wheels and discs are used in metal fabrication for operations such as primary grinding, sanding, polishing, finishing, and satin finishing. Different types of abrasives for metal fabrication include fiber disc, cloth rolls, unified wheels & convolute wheels, and flap wheels & interleaved flap wheels. In the metal industry, flap wheels are used for polishing and deburring. Thus, the increasing application of non-woven abrasives in the metal fabrication industry is driving the market during the forecast period.
Non-woven abrasives and non-woven substrates are made up of polyamide and coated with a mixture of abrasive grains, fillers, and usually a phenolic resin binder. Resins used in this application are highly reactive and contain no free monomers. The coating is carried out by spraying a mixture of resin/particles and fillers on both sides and the non-woven fabric carrier.
High and fluctuating crude oil prices are responsible for approximately 90% of the rise and fluctuations in prices of resin. Such direct relationship between crude oil prices and resin prices restrains the market, as it results in increasing the price of non-woven abrasives. Thereby, the fluctuations in crude oil prices affect the prices of resin, which in turn, hinders the market growth during the forecast period.
Based on product types, the Non-woven Abrasives market is divided into hand pads, belts, discs, rolls, wheels, and others. Wheels are efficient non-woven abrasives, which offer a smear-free performance in few steps while polishing and blending. Wheels offer controlled and sustained finish. Thus, the wheels segment is estimated to grow at a significant rate. The discs segment holds the largest share of the market and is anticipated to grow at a considerable CAGR. Applications such as surface conditioning in internal tricky areas of the workpiece such as plastic pipe and tubing require cleaning, deburring, and polishing.
Non-woven abrasives such as stars and buffs are useful in such cases. This is anticipated to promote the growth of the others segment. Non-woven abrasives are ideal for deburring, cleaning, and providing after finish to a wide assortment of materials. Hand pads are particularly designed to deliver conformability and flexibility for work surfaces requiring hand finishing. Rising demand for hand finishing applications is anticipated to drive the hand pad segment.
On the basis of target substrate, the Non-woven Abrasives market is categorized as Metal, Glass, Plastic, Composite, Wood, and Ceramic. The metal segment accounts for a noteworthy share of the Non-woven Abrasives market. Non-woven wheels and discs are used in metal fabrication for operations such as primary grinding, sanding, polishing, finishing, and satin finishing.
This can be attributed to the growth of the metal segment. Non-woven abrasive products are used for metal polishing, which helps in removing corrosion, tarnish, and discoloration from chrome, aluminum, stainless steel, and brass. Non-woven abrasives are used for various applications such as metal cutting, heavy grinding, medium to light grinding, deburring, blending, surface preparation & cleaning, finishing, and polishing.
Different types of abrasives for metal fabrication include fiber disc, cloth rolls, unified wheels & convolute wheels, and flap wheels & interleaved flap wheel. Non-woven abrasive wheels are produced for sanding of hard metals, where robustness, abrasive capacity, and a shiny finish is expected. Additionally, they are manufactured for finishing soft metals for use in spectacle frames, watch components, precision surgical instruments, and jewelry. Demand from various sectors is anticipated to drive the metal segment.
On the basis of applications, the Non-woven Abrasives market is divided into Construction, Transportation, Electronics & Semiconductors, Industrial/ Metal fabrication, and Others. Plastics are used in electronic components majorly for their insulating and heat-resistant properties. Non-abrasives are useful for sanding of plastics. Growing usage of non-woven abrasives for sanding and polishing applications of plastics in electronics is anticipated to boost the electronics & semiconductors segment.
Industrial/ Metal fabrication holds a remarkable market share in terms of various applications owing to wide presence of industrial and metal fabrication manufacturers across the world. Materials such as concrete, cement, and stone require non-woven abrasives for stripping coatings and to paint off the surface. Growing construction industry is expected to increase the demand for non-woven abrasives, thus boosting the construction segment.
On the basis of regions, the market is categorized as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a significant CAGR during the forecast, due to growing demand from emerging countries such as India and China as well as the expansion of manufacturing, automotive, and machinery industries. Non-woven abrasive finishing wheels are increasingly needed in levelling and finishing of automotive metal parts. This is estimated to foster the growth of non-woven abrasives market in Asia Pacific.
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According to this Growth Market Reports, the market from Non-woven Abrasives market is likely to register a CAGR of 6.3% during period 2020-2028, with an anticipated valuation of USD 880.4 million by the end of the 2028.
In addition to market size (in USD Million) and Company Market Share (in % for base year 2020), other data such Advancements in Non-woven Abrasive Technology, Non-woven Abrasive Grit Range Insight, Global Abrasive Market Overview, Macro-economic factors, and COVID-19 Impact on the Non-woven Abrasives market is available in final report.
Factors such as competitive strength and market positioning are key areas considered while selecting top companies to be profiled.
The Non-woven Abrasives market is anticipated to grow significantly during forecast period due rising need of high speed data communication needs across various applications.
The demand for Non-woven Abrasives from Construction, Transportation, and Industrial/ Metal fabrication applications is driving the market growth.
The market is expected to witness sluggish growth with slow increase in terms of demand during 2019-2020 owing to the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Non-woven Abrasives market.
The base year considered for the Non-woven Abrasives market report is 2020. The complete analysis period is 2018 to 2028, wherein, 2018 & 2019 are the historic years, and the forecast is provided from 2021 to 2028.
Major Manufactures include 3M, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, sia Abrasives Industries AG, and ARC ABRASIVES, INC.