UV (Ultraviolet) curing is a subset technology of radiation curing which is widely being employed now-a-days to cure various products like coatings, inks, and adhesives. It is a technology for instant curing in which UV light is used to cause photo-polymerization that leads to fast curing. EB (Electron Beam) curing technology also has a remarkable presence in the market but the high performance of UV curable formulations is driving its acceptance at a high pace.
Currently, the strong demand of UV curable formulations is due to the strong demand by wood and paper industries in the industrial coatings segment, PCB, LCD, LED, brightness enhanced film, and other. manufacturers in the electronics segment, over print varnishes and inks manufacturers in the graphic arts segment.
The market of resins used in UV curable formulations (UV Curable Resins) is driven by stringent emission norms, growing electronics market, and growth by the inks employed in packaging applications. The increasing penetration into various markets like metal coatings, 3D printing, encloses the major opportunities in the UV curable resins market. The UV curable products are moving out of the factories to the field applications, which is a direct result of numerous improvements in UV curing equipment and technological transformations in the end products. In field curing, the major applications are concrete floor coating, wood floor coating, vinyl floor coating, counter-tops coating, tubs coating, and others. All these application segments are undergoing a phase of development with effective commercialization expected in the coming years. Additionally, the UV technology is also expected to be recognized as one of the leading technologies for metal coatings application in the future, from its limited current footprint in this segment. The metal coatings market includes several industries including automotive, protective, coil, can, and others.
3D printing material with high process ability, flexibility, and stability, are a part of the current global revolution. The market demand for 3D printing material is expected to grow at a rate of over 20.0% till2013 and with the budding penetration of UV curable resins in this market, it may turn out to be a crucial opportunity for the resin manufacturers in the future.
There are various markets, especially in the Asia-Pacific and ROW regions, where the volumetric consumption of UV curable products is quite low, due to comparatively low awareness and non-compliance of emission standards. Due to this, the investments are quite low for these products in various potential consuming countries of the aforementioned regions, but, ultimately there is clear anticipation that the countries are expected to move towards UV curable products, to seek reduced emissions. Also, the increasing purchasing power in the developing countries and the need for high performance products may add to the high demand in the future.
