Nanofiber Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Nanofiber Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The nanofiber market is valued at USD 700.33 million and is expected to register a CAGR of around 17.5% during the forecast period (2021-2026).

COVID-19 has created instability in the nanofiber market across the globe. The lockdowns and restrictions imposed by the governments in several countries have led to a reduction in demand for nanofibers in various end-user industries. In Q1 2020, the total global production of motor vehicles was 55,091 units which are 29.3% lower than Q1 2019, which stood at 77,951 units. The motor vehicle production in Q2, 2020 was 99,414 units that are 39.5% lower compared to Q2 2019, which was around 164,423 units. A similar negative impact has been seen in other end-user industries such as aerospace and defense, chemicals, etc. However, on the other hand, nanofibers are used in the manufacturing of face masks. With the increase in the application of face masks amid pandemic, the companies have also announced to increase their production, due to which the demand for nanofiber has been increased. For instance, since January 2020, 3M doubled the production of N95 respirators to 1.1 billion per year at its global manufacturing facilities, including in Asia, Europe, and the United States. 3M also announced to double its capacity again to 2 billion per year within the next 12 months.

Key Highlights

• Over the long term, the major factor driving the growth of the market studied is the increasing demand from the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
• On the flip side, the difficulty in a shift of carbon nanofibers from lab scale to plant scale due to small size and complexity and the lack of sensitive instrumentation to calibrate properties of nanofibers is one of the major stumbling blocks in the growth of the studied market.
• The water and filtration application segment dominated the market. While, medical segment is expected to witness the fastest CAGR owing to the growing application in the field of medical, pharmaceuticals, and life science and the increasing investments in the healthcare industry, especially in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle Eastern countries.
• The increasing R&D and high-potential market for cellulosic nanofibers are likely to provide opportunities for the studied market during the forecast period.
• Asia-Pacific dominated the market across the world, where the demand for nanofibers is majorly driven by the increasing application and demand from industries, such as electronics, energy, aerospace, healthcare, and defense.

Key Market TrendsWater and Filtration Segment to Dominate the Market Demand

• Electrospun nanofiber-based filter media possess a high ratio of surface/volume, low-pressure drop, good interconnectivity of voids, and controllable connectivity and morphology, rendering them desirable to achieve excellent filtering. Owing to these factors, nanofibers are used in High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters.
• HEPA filters are used in industrial applications for keeping a designated environment free of particulate contaminants, such as a clean room. In most countries, HEPA filters need to meet stringent requirements.
• The US Department of Energy (DOE) standards state that a HEPA filter needs to remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles which are 0.3 µm in diameter, among other requirements.
• The European standard has different classes of HEPA with specific requirements. Electrospun filter membrane is known for its high filtration efficiency and performance which makes it potentially suitable for HEPA filter.
• Additionally, in the recent past, nanofibers synthesized from metal oxide semiconductors have been actively explored in numerous chemical and gas sensing applications, including in the detection of air quality, inspection of toxic and inflammable gases, and monitoring of environment. These nanofibers are capable of detecting various reducing and oxidizing gases in a quick time span.
• While the typical N95 masks are made using polypropylene fibers, several startups have been indulging in making face masks using electrospun nanofibers post the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks made using nanofibers capture aerosol droplets better while providing additional breathability.
• However, the usage of nanofiber masks is still very low in comparison to regular N95 masks.
• Nanofibers are also used in the water treatment sector as the scaffold for TFC (thin-film composite) membranes in the pressure and osmotic membrane processes. Additionally, they are also used in the thermally-driven MD (membrane distillation) process for water treatment.
• Hence, all such market trends are expected to drive nanofibers' demand for water and filtration applications during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific Region to Dominate the Market

• Asia-Pacific dominated the global market share. The increasing demand from industries like the healthcare, aerospace and defense, energy, and automotive industries has been driving the growth of the studied market.
• The Chinese healthcare industry is the second-largest industry globally after the United States, and it registered a revenue of USD 1.1 trillion in 2019. China is expected to have 25% of global healthcare industry revenue share by 2030. This is expected to increase the demand for nanofiber composites for drug delivery, tissue engineering, stem cell therapy, cancer therapy, and wound healing.
• Additionally, China has one of the largest wound dressings markets in the Asia-Pacific region, and it is expected to register a CAGR of 6.70% over the next five years. China has many domestic and international wound management companies involved in wound dressings, such as Chinamed and Exciton Technologies. Most of them are located around the major cities of the country, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.
• The Chinese automotive industry is the largest in the world. The industry witnessed a slowdown in 2018, wherein the production and sales declined. A similar trend continued, with production witnessing a 7.5% decline in 2019. Additionally, the production volume reached 25.23 million vehicles in 2020, registering a decline rate of about 2% compared to 2019. The decline in production has negatively affected the demand for nanofiber in China during 2020.
• Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors. The country’s health care spending as a percentage of GDP is growing rapidly, owing to the government’s focus on improving healthcare recently. India is also one of the famous destinations of medical tourism owing to its cheap and quality healthcare, and it has also been experiencing high growth.
• Additionally, the healthcare segment in India has also been growing and may boost the demand for market studied in the country. The healthcare sector in the country is expected to reach USD 372 billion by 2022, mainly driven by increasing health awareness, access to insurance, rising income, and diseases. The world’s largest government funded healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat, was launched in September 2018, augmenting the market demand for different applications during the forecast period
• Hence, all such prevailing market trends are expected to drive the demand in the nanofiber market in the region during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The nanofiber market is a partially fragmented market, where numerous players hold an insignificant share of the market to affect the market dynamics individually. Some of the noticeable players in the market include eSpin Technologies Inc., Teijin Limited, TORAY INDUSTRIES INC., Hollingsworth and Vose Company, and NIPPON PAPER INDUSTRIES CO. LTD., among others.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

IBM Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Internap Corporation
Packet Inc. (An Equinix Inc. Company)
Scaleway Inc.
Amazon Web Services Inc
Rackspace Inc.
CenturyLink, Inc.
LightEdge Solutions, Inc

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