Developments using these films should have some significant effects on our economy and help provide the ability to solve some current problems such as climate change,
where improved performance in applications such as solar cells and fuel cells can help attack global warming, one of the most serious environmental concerns. Similar work is going on in the automotive arena. The ability of engineers to meet design goals for products such as solar cells and/or batteries that power cars will in some major parts depend on development of high-quality performance films. High-performance markets increasingly are becoming those where the major chemical companies want to place their future. This business is also a global one, with many foreign-owned firms active in the U.S. market. Industry leaders have worldwide marketing and manufacturing facilities, often in joint ventures with local companies. The rise of China as a manufacturing behemoth has led to formation of many Chinese-foreign joint ventures.

BCC Research has continually updated this study to provide an up-to-date reference for those interested in and/or involved in these products and their use.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY AND INTENDED AUDIENCE

Because of the size and diversity of the materials and products used in high-performance plastic films, this report should be of interest to a wide group of organizations and individuals. This includes people who are involved in the development, design, manufacture, sale and use of these films, as well as government officials and the general public. This report will be of value to technical and business personnel in the following areas, among others:

- Personnel in end-user companies in a wide range of industries from food packaging to aerospace to photovoltaics. The focus of this report is on the interests of specifying
engineers and procurement commodity managers.
- Marketing and management personnel in companies that produce, market and sell high-performance plastic films.
- Companies involved in the design and construction of process plants that manufacture both the basic film resins and high-performance plastic films themselves.
- Companies that supply, or want to supply, equipment and services to high-performance plastic films companies.
- Financial institutions that supply money for such facilities and systems, including banks, merchant bankers, venture capitalists and others.
- Investors in both equity and fixed-income markets. The future of the specialty film business very much depends on the values of the publicly traded stocks of companies
such as 3M and DuPont.
- Personnel in government at many levels, ranging from federal to state and local authorities, many of whom are involved in trying to ensure public health and safety.
The report also will be of interest to military scientists studying new packaging and equipment.

SCOPE AND FORMAT

High-performance films canbe defined in any of several ways: by volume, price, performance, end-use markets, resin types, or a combination of two or more of these
characteristics. For this study, high-performance films are defined as thin-gauge, mostly extruded or solution-cast polymer sheets that generally meet at least one of the following criteria: pricing above commodity film levels, continuous-use temperature above commodity plastics, and end-uses requiring technical capability and thickness at or below 30 mils. These are films that are used primarily for their performance characteristics, not because of their price. Emphasis is on those markets and products where opportunities are the greatest.

Therefore, the distinguishing characteristics of high-performance films are as follows:
- Relatively expensive.
- Thin gauge (compared to sheet).
- Possess special performance characteristics.
- Significant applications other than in packaging. High-performance films generally are fabricated (or converted) in relatively small volumes (at least compared to commodity films). Much of their value is created after the film is extruded.
The focal point is on high-performance resins and their chemistries, including the
following:
- Polyesters, primarily PET. We use PET interchangeably with "polyester" throughout this report.
- Polyolefin-based specialty film resins.
- Nylons (more properly and chemically called polyamides).
- Polycarbonates (PCs).
- Bioplastics, a newer group of plastics.
- Fluoropolymers.
- Acrylic films based on PMMA chemistry.
- Polyimides (PIs).
- Cyclic olefin copolymers (COCs).
- Polyethylene naphthalate (PEN).
- Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs).
- Polysulfones.
- Polyetherimides.

We also introduce some newer film resins whose markets at present are too small to measure with any precision. These include polyketones, benzocyclobutenes and
polyacetals. Basic polyolefins, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are not included in our scope since they are true commodities used in commodity film applications like grocery and garbage bags. Also excluded are other commodity resins like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene. Specialty polyolefin-based films are included, primarily and particularly when multilayer construction is involved. These specialty films are ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), ionomers, polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and polymethyl pentene (PMP).

- Fluoropolymer films are an important of this report. They include the following:
- Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
- Polyvinyl fluoride (PVF).
- Fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP).
- Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE).
- Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF).
- Perfluoroalkoxy (PFA).
- Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE).
- Ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE).
The geographic scope of this report is the U.S. market. We include some international discussion, for example of foreign-owned firms that are active in these markets.
Our market estimates are by resin volumes in millions of pounds and we round them to the nearest million pounds. We round to millions since with so many products and
applications, many of which are similar and can overlap, market estimates are by nature just that, estimates and not precise beyond millions of pounds, if that. Many
applications markets for particular films are small, less than a million pounds, but our precision here is not greater than for larger numbers, and we round up to 1 million
those estimated volumes greater than a half-million. Also, compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) for table entries with small volumes may not agree exactly with the
2013 and 2018 volumes; this is again caused by rounding.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

Both primary and secondary research sources were used in preparing this study. Extensive searches were made of the literature and the Internet, including leading
trade journals, technical papers, company literature, government information and pertinent trade associations. Much product and market information was obtained from
the principals involved in the industry. The information in our company profiles was obtained primarily from the companies themselves, especially the larger publicly
owned firms. Other sources included directories, articles and Internet sites.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 2
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 3
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY 4
CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY AND INTENDED AUDIENCE 5
SCOPE AND FORMAT 5
METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES 7
AUTHOR'S CREDENTIALS 7
RELATED BCC RESEARCH REPORTS 7
BCC RESEARCH WEBSITE 8
DISCLAIMER 8

CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY 10
SUMMARY TABLE OVERALL U.S. HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILM MARKET ESTIMATE BY
RESIN VOLUME, THROUGH 2018 (MILLION LBS) 12
SUMMARY FIGURE OVERALL U.S. HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILM MARKET ESTIMATE BY
RESIN VOLUME, 2013 AND 2018 (MILLION LBS) 13

CHAPTER 3 MARKETS BY MATERIALS 15
OVERVIEW 15
OVERALL HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILM RESIN MARKET ESTIMATE 15
TABLE 1 OVERALL U.S. HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILM MARKET ESTIMATE BY RESIN
VOLUME, THROUGH 2018 (MILLION LBS) 16
TABLE 2 MARKET SEGMENTS FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILMS 17
POLYESTER FILMS 18
BACKGROUND 18
OTHER AND SPECIALTY POLYESTERS 19
MARKET ESTIMATE AND FORECAST 19
TABLE 3 U.S. MARKET ESTIMATE FOR POLYESTER FILMS BY APPLICATION,
THROUGH 2018 (MILLION LBS) 20
COMMERCIAL FACTORS 20
TECHNICAL FACTORS 21
PET FILM SUPPLIERS 22
TABLE 4 DOMESTIC POLYESTER FILM PRODUCERS 22
PET FILM APPLICATIONS 23
TABLE 5 POLYESTER (PET) FILM APPLICATIONS 24
Electrical/Electronics 24
Photographic/Reprographic Films 25
X-ray Films 26
Packaging 26
Release Films and Pressure-Sensitive (P/S) Tape 27
Hot Stamping Films 28
Displays and Optical Applications 28
Office Products 28
Other Applications 29
Strapping Tape 29
Window Glazing 29
TYPES OF POLYESTER FILMS 29
Biaxially Oriented PET 29
Metalized PET Films 30
PBT Films 30
PET FILM PROCESSING 30
POLYOLEFIN-BASED HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILMS 31
MARKET ESTIMATE AND FORECAST 31
TABLE 6 U.S. MARKET ESTIMATE FOR POLYOLEFIN-BASED HIGH-PERFORMANCE
FILMS BY RESIN VOLUME, THROUGH 2018 (MILLION LBS) 32
TABLE 7 U.S. MARKET ESTIMATE FOR POLYOLEFIN-BASED FILMS BY APPLICATION,
THROUGH 2018 (MILLION LBS) 32
ETHYLENE-VINYL ALCOHOL COPOLYMER (EVOH) 33