The World Air Transport Statistics’ Plus Edition 2021, released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), reveals that revenue passenger-kilometres and cargo tonne-kilometers stood at 2,986,993 million and 231,342 million, respectively in 2021. The rising air traffic is resulting in the large-scale production of aircrafts, owing to which the aerospace and aviation sector is using a massive volume of 3D printing high-performance plastics, which are used to manufacture lightweight, complex, sturdy, and customized components of aircraft.
Additionally, the rising need for mass customization, on account of the evolving needs of customers, will help the 3D printing high-performance plastics market progress during 2021–2030. According to P&S Intelligence, the market generated a revenue of $73.5 million in 2020. The increasing shift of production units to 3D printing from traditional manufacturing can be attributed to the zero-material wastage, greater customizability, and low cost associated with the technology. 3D printing technology helps create complex designs without additional costs.
In recent years, producers of 3D printing high-performance plastics have been involved in partnerships to reach out to a greater number of customers. For instance, in March 2021, Stratasys Ltd. partnered with Xometry to offer a wide range of novel high-performance nylon materials to customers. With this partnership, the customer base of Xometry, which includes Fortune 100 companies and startups, were able to tap into the expertise and massive manufacturing capacity of Stratasys Direct in selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing.
Geographically, the North American region led the 3D printing high-performance plastics market in the last few years due to the mounting R&D investments, on account of the large-scale technological advancements in the U.S. and Canada. The National Science Board of the U.S. states that the federal government, non-federal government and other non-profit organizations, businesses, and higher education institutes of the country spent $121.0 billion, $26.1 billion, $381.1 billion, and $19.7 billion on R&D, respectively, in 2017.
Therefore, the soaring aircraft production and surging need for mass customization will result in the widescale adoption of 3D printing high-performance plastics worldwide.