With technological coated fabric advancements, the application of coated fabrics now extends to defense, marine, and aviation industries. Herein, coated fabrics are now extensively used for their attributes of barrier protection, air retention, abrasion resistance, and high strength to weight ratio. This factor will open new opportunities for the players in the global coated fabrics market. Moreover, consistent research and development in the field is sure to extend the application of coated fibrics into other fields and further expand the market.
Apart from being utterly useful for the thriving automotive industry, coated fabrics are also used to make protective clothing for labors, which extends the horizon of its demand into several other flourishing industries. Strict government regulations such as European Union’s Directive and Australia’s Model Work Health and Safety Act are urging industries towards industrial protective clothing adoption.
Coated fabrics are composite materials prepared by spreading bonding agents on one or both sides of the fabric and coating it with rubber compounds as per the requirement of the final end-use application. The final product is not only flexible, strong, heat resistant, and washable, they can also be electrically conductive or insulating as per desire. In the automotive industry, coated fabrics are used to manufacture air bags and seat covers. As the automotive industry touches new peaks in the near future, owing to rising population across the world, the demand for coated fabrics is anticipated to increment at a rapid rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.
In terms of products, the global coated fabrics market can be segmented into polymer, rubber, and fabric-backed wall coverings. Out of these, polymer coated fabrics serve maximum demand as it is relatively inexpensive as compared to other fabrics and offer desirable resistance to water, abrasion, and fire. As the regulations for safety spreads into several other emerging economies, the global polymer coated fabrics market is expected to flourish.
Food and beverage, chemical processing, agriculture, and law enforcement are some of the most prominent end-use industries for coated fabrics, after automotive. Conversely, this industry is facing stiff challenge from alternative materials including leather, plastic, uncoated fabrics, and rubber sheeting, which will hinder the growth rate to a certain extend during the forecast period.
