London -- IAL Consultants has published the third edition of its report on the polyurethane markets in South America.
The region has seen several years of sustained economic growth, which has led to increased demand for polyurethanes, both flexible and rigid foams, said the London-based market research group.
"Over the past five years, Brazil's production of polyurethane products has grown due to increased consumer spending and automotive and refrigeration production aimed at export markets in the Americas and Asia," added IAL.
In another example, IAL said Argentina has also seen its economy boom since its major recession. Argentina's automotive industry is the second largest in South America and has been a strong driving force for growth in the economy, said IAL, with Fiat, which stopped production some years ago starting up again, as of 2008.
In the rest of the region, "production still remains fairly patchy due to competition from lower priced materials," said the group, adding that this is especially true for furniture and construction products. A lack of readily available raw materials also causes restrictions. Before the current global economic downturn, production had been increasing again, due to rising living standards, IAL pointed out.
Using the latest available information from official and industry sources, the report, which costs Euro 5000, summarises the production of polyurethane products and the associated demand for polyurethane chemicals. Data is provided for 2008, with forecasts for 2013.
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