Immense Growth In Population, Economic Activities Along With Increasing Government Regulation For Preservation Of Water Is Influencing Fiber Reinforced Plastic Tanks Demand

Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Tank Market size is forecast to reach US$3.2 billion by 2026, after growing at a CAGR of 5.4% during 2021-2026. The FRP Tanks market is growing at a significant rate during the forecast period, owning to immense growth in population, economic activities along with increasing government rules and regulation for preservation of water and encouragement on rainwater harvesting. FRP tanks assist in reducing underground leakage and corrosion. FRP tank is replacing metal or concrete tank by providing solution to leakage and corrosion problems, which may foster the market growth in future. The composite tanks are generally used in wastewater storage and portable water storage. According to United Nation’s study, the world’s water consumption rate is doubling every 20 years, outpacing by two times the rate of population growth. It is projected that by the year 2030 water demand will exceed supply by 57%, due to persistent regional droughts, urbanization, and water needed for industrial growth, Where FRP tanks can be incorporated for storing water, thus increasing the growth of the market.

The growth of the oil industry is also driving FRP tank demand as it is used as an aboveground or underground storage tank in the oil industry, because of its lower long-term maintenance and upfront costs. According to U.S Energy Information Administration, U.S crude oil production grew by 17% up to 10.96 million barrels per day in 2018, from 1.6 million barrels per day in 2017. U.S. crude oil production has increased significantly over the past 10 years. New projects and expansions that have started since 2016 in the Federal Gulf of Mexico have led to an increase in production in 2018. According to the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, Brazil could bring its oil production to more than 5 million barrels per day by 2027. In addition, in June 2019 China announced to increase capital investment in oil exploration by 20%, up to $77 billion, in order to boost production in two old oilfields signals. The goal is to increase domestic production by 50%, up more than 2 million barrels per day over the next five years.  Thus these growth are expected to drive FRP tanks demand.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to emerge as a major player in the global market over the forecast period due to increasing demand for industrial water treatment facilities in the region. The China's 13th Five-year Plan on Urban Sewage Treatment and Water Recycling Facilities aimed to spend around about USD 87.5 billion or 0.75% of its GDP on its water treatment industry. This is expected to increase the FRP tank market growth. As FRP tank is used to store chemicals used in wastewater treatment, because of its chemical and corrosion resistance properties. In 2018, the government of India has set a target of providing clean drinking water to all by 2024. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched the Swajal scheme in around 115 rural districts in India to provide clean drinking water. In December 2019, The Japanese government signed an agreement to provide about $22 million in aid to expand clean water supply in Pursat province (Cambodia). The project involves the construction of a treatment plant to supply 6,600 cubic meters of water per day and install 85.5 kilometers of pipelines to benefit 257 poor families in the province. Therefore these projects support FRP tank market growth in the region.

However, COVID-19 has negatively impacted the FRP Tanks market in 2020 with the halt in the production across various countries. The global lockdowns to curb the virus have led to the decrease in manufacturing sectors including, chemicals, oil & gas and so on, which significantly resulted in the decline of market. In addition, the development of new COVID strains in countries such as India, US, UK, Nigeria and so on during end of 2020 to the beginning of 2021 is further resulting in the lockdown and impacting the manufacturing sector thereby constraining the market growth rate.

The conventional materials for the construction of chemical storage tanks were carbon steel, stainless steel, rubber lined steels and premium alloys.  These conventional materials are replaced with FRP owing to benefits such as an improved corrosion resistance, light weight, higher strength to weight ratio, decreased life cycle costs and higher tensile strength. FRP Tanks have superior properties than conventional tanks as they are designed to provide tensile, flexural, compressive strengths and impact resistance. FRP composites can be molded into any shape and colorants can be added to allow the structures to blend with most landscapes. FRP is good insulator with low thermal conductivity unlike metals such as steel and Aluminium which conduct heat. Owing to advance properties of FRP, the manufacturers are highly utilizing FRP composite materials to manufacture tanks than conventional one for various applications such as chemical FRP tank, water and wastewater FRP tank, petroleum FRP tanks and so on.

Owning to the continuous demand for lightweight and strong composite materials, FRP’s has become a commercially imperative reinforcement technique for generating high performance engineering composites, which are extremely preferable in end use industries. With the universal attention moving towards Nanomaterials, a new era is entitled for the introduction of a new technology for the production of FRP’s at nanometer scale. The swiftly developing technique of electro spinning delivers a forthright way to manufacture continuous FRP’s at Nano scale. This technology will improve the materials stability, strength and other properties. The improvement in these properties will drive nanotechnology based electro spun FRP’s tanks demand.  As the tanks made of nanotechnology based electro spun FRP’s will have enhanced properties as compared to conventional materials.

The major companies in the fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) Tanks market include Denali Incorporated, ZCL Composites, Hexagon Composites ASA, Augusta Fiberglass and others. These industry players are involved in various strategic initiatives to expand their presence. For instance, in October 2017, Augusta Fiberglass Coatings, Inc., expanded its existing operations in Blackville, South Carolina. The expansion included the construction of a 12,000-square-foot building, increasing Augusta Fiberglass’s manufacturing capacity at this facility, which currently employs 230. In February 2020, Shawcor Ltd. completed acquisition of ZCL Composites Inc. ZCL is North America’s manufacturer of environmentally friendly fiberglass reinforced plastic underground storage tanks for the fuel, water and wastewater and oil and gas markets. In April 2018, Luxfer Gas Cylinders, launched Luxfer ECLIPSE™, its new carbon composite cylinders for firefighter self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Luxfer ECLIPSE cylinders deliver the same strength, durability and safety as conventional carbon composite cylinders with a 100 percent carbon fiber overwrap. Hence, such developments by the key players is expected to boost its market growth over the forecast period.