Market Snapshot: Building & construction

Building and construction continues to carry the molding torch as low interest rates push the volume of new home sales higher. A report from the Dept. of Commerce shows that U.S. housing starts rose 1.5% in July, marking a 17-year high, to a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 1.872 million homes (see Figure 1).

That’s good news for the vinyl siding, window, and door market, as those products are now considered mainstream building materials in the $24.5 billion U.S. market. A Freedonia Group report shows U.S. door and window growth to clip along at about 4.9% annually through 2007. But since the vast majority of window, door, and siding products are extruded, the only opportunity for molders is fittings and fasteners.

Still, the high level of housing starts means good news for molders of long-standing plastics applications in interior products—electrical and plumbing applications, for example, as well as appliances. Newer applications and market breakthroughs are harder to come by, but are beginning to grow.

“The housing industry has traditionally been slow to embrace new products, especially those made from synthetic materials,” says Kerston Russell, divisional president of EcoStar, a division of Carlisle SynTec Inc.

Roofing, Fencing, Decking

EcoStar develops and molds roofing tiles such as Majestic Slate and other types that look like traditional slate or wood shake shingle tiles. (See “Market Snapshot,” October 2002 IMM, pp. 38-40, for more information.) Russell adds that EcoStar’s line of synthetic slate and shake tiles has continued to grow rapidly in the marketplace, unlike other similar products.

“Some of this may be credited to the fact that our product is made from recycled materials, as well as the quality of the product,” says Russell. “In either case, the housing market seems to be prime for new materials with a proven track record that can provide a distinctive appearance.”

In fact, a Freedonia Group report on the U.S. roofing market shows that segment growing to $11 billion, “driven by nonresidential construction of offices, commercial buildings, and by residential reroofing applications. Plastics and metal materials will show the fastest gains based on opportunities for thermoplastic polyolefins.”

The Freedonia Group also reports that demand for plastic fencing products will increase 5% annually through 2007, and next to concrete, plastic will be the material of choice for most residential applications. One company enjoying this growth is Kroy Building Products Inc. (York, NE), which specializes in designing and producing polymer decking, rail fencing, decorative fencing, and patio covers. As with plastic roofing materials, these products are intended to replace wood and wrought iron. Although most of these products are extruded, many injection molded applications are included in the product line such as post caps, pickets, and other decorative enhancements.

Alternate Fillers: Wood

Kroy’s newest product, Timberlast composite railing, uses a combination of PVC and wood composite with a polymer capstock overlay. Mary Willard, marketing manager for Kroy in the company’s Cary, NC office, says that an increased emphasis by homebuilders on maintenance-free living is driving demand for the company’s products. Kroy has extrusion equipment and subcontracts the injection molded components out to custom molders.

Kroy’s focus on the wood composite with polymer overlay is what the company’s president and CEO calls the third phase of the “vinyl revolution.” John T. Forbis says it will have a “revolutionary impact on the industry,” as did the two phases before it. “In many ways its long-term impact may be as significant as the original introduction of PVC building products, since this new phase involves the introduction of yet another new type of building material: sophisticated composites that offer many of the best features of both wood and vinyl.”

That opens the door for alternative building materials, a fact that is not lost on Robert Bulla, sales and marketing manager for Atlas Precision Inc., a custom injection molder in Arden, NC. (.) Bulla continues to find new applications for that company’s niche expertise in wood composite injection molding. Some new applications include cabinet and drawer fronts for kitchens and baths. “The biggest thing to overcome is that wood composite is a filled polymer,” says Bulla. However, he notes that the benefits of the material outweigh some of the other hardwood alternatives. “It has a wood look, it smells like wood, yet it’s lightweight, offering an ideal replacement for particle board or fiber board.” A few of the major building products companies are looking at wood composites, Bulla adds, but most are uninformed about what’s possible with the technology. That’s where education comes in; Bulla spends a lot of time working with customers and potential customers in the building and construction industry on new applications using wood composite injection molding.Alternate Fillers: LimestoneIn that respect, increasingly in demand are polymer materials filled with natural substances that combine the best of each world to produce products. A new company, Crossroads Building Products Inc., will begin manufacturing those types of parts in a new facility in Fairbury, NE by Q4 of this year. Crossroads will fabricate products for Kroy Building Products and market its products in Canada and Australia under the Unimould name, according to a press release from the Nebraska Governor’s office.The $3 million investment will allow both extrusion and injection molding of panels from a blend of HDPE and limestone, a proprietary formulation from ReBase Products of Barrie, ON. The state of Nebraska awarded the company a $429,400 Community Development Block Grant, and the city of Fairbury is loaning the company $25,600 toward new equipment. The company plans to purchase two 300-ton injection molding presses and four extrusion lines. As plastics and composites become more accepted in this market, look for even more applications to surface in this specialized injection molding niche that can hold some opportunities for domestic molders who offer product development and engineering capabilities. Some of this acceptance will come as the industry promotes the “green” aspects of plastics due to the use of recycled materials.EcoStar’s Russell says, “In either case [recycled or new], the housing market seems to be prime for new materials with a proven track record that can provide a distinctive appearance.”