However, there was a decrease of 4.2%, or 117 thousand tons, in composites consumption. According to the association, the mismatch between consumption and revenue is due to "successive increases in raw material prices".
“This result means much more an accommodation of demand, after the explosion in 2020 and 2021, than a fall itself,” said Erika Bernardino Aprá, president of ALMACO.
According to the ALMACO survey, in the first half of 2022, civil construction accounted for 30.9% of Brazilian consumption of composites, ahead of transport (24.7%), corrosion/sanitation (17.5%), leisure/pools (12.4%), electric energy (5.2%), wind energy (3.1%), marine (2.1%) and clothing (1%). In the epoxy resin-based composite market, generation of wind energy led with 90.5%, ahead of oil (3.8%) and electronics (2.7%).
“The drop in demand from the construction and leisure market, the latter represented mainly by swimming pools, was partially mitigated by the good phase of the transport industry, especially road buses, whose sales increased after the resumption of post-pandemic tourism,” added Aprá.
For 2022, ALMACO predicts a decrease in consumption of around 2.5% (239 thousand tons) and revenue of US$ 922 million, 20% higher than 2021.
“The second half of the year is historically better for our industry than the first. Added to this is the start of major projects in the area of corrosion, a movement that will positively impact many companies in the composites production chain,” Aprá said.
