The global low smoke halogen free cable market accounted to US$ 2.49 Bn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.7% during the forecast period 2019 – 2027
Rising urbanization in the current times has also increased the risks of fire cases in the buildings. Hence, the protection of building assets and human lives has become a critical consideration while developing an infrastructure. Apart from the residential and commercial buildings, the industrial buildings, oil & gas refineries, and mineral ores are identified to be highly fire prone locations. Regulatory bodies have mandated the need to maintain a standard for occupational and health safety for employees at the highly fire-risk areas. Low smoke halogen free (LSHF) cables employ insulation materials that are safer whenever exposed to fire. These cables produce less dense smokes and reduce the toxicity level as compared to the traditional Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) cables. The LSHF cables are particularly effective in the confined spaces where fire risk are more. In the open spaces, fire dissipates quickly and the toxicity factor due to cables is eliminated. These cables are higher in costs as compared to the traditional ones.
The prominent market players in low smoke halogen free cable market are BASF SE, Borealis AG, DowDuPont Inc., Fujikura Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Nexans SA, Prysmian Group, Mexichem Specialty Compounds, Shanghai Kaibo Compounds Factory Co., Ltd., and Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corp among others for a considerable share of the market owing to their product offerings to the market.
Low smoke halogen free cable market leaders are involved in taking up various market initiative such as expanding footprint across the world and meet the growing demand of its customers, focusing towards product enhancements by implementing advance technologies and signing partnership, contracts, joint ventures, funding, and inaugurating new offices across the world to maintain brand name globally. For instance, recently, BASF unveiled its plan to construct new thermoplastic polyurethanes and engineering plastics plants in Zhanjiang, China. The company is expected to invest US$ 10 Bn in this project in order to contribute to the global manufacturing capacity for engineering plastics and TPU. Sumitomo Electric entered into a strategic partnership with ADTRAN. The agreement states about the transfer of operations associated with supply of access network equipment for the CATV operators, sales & local support services, and technical licenses.
The low smoke halogen free compounds and cables industry is highly fragmented with large number of well-known, as well as small local companies provider precence in the low smoke halogen free cable market. The larger firms are adopting the strategy of partnership, contractual alliances for the deployment of low smoke halogen free cable solutions to enhance their customer portfolio and expand footprint in different geographies. Few of the important low smoke halogen free cable market initiatives from the industry are mentioned below:
| Year | News | Country |
| 2019 | Mexichem Specialty Compounds has established a new production line at its production facility in Melton Mowbray. Through this expansion, the production capacity would be increased by extra 10,000 tonnes annually. This additional production is directed to address their clientele demand for Low Smoke Halogen Free compounds. | Europe |
| 2018 | Prysmian Group completed the acquisition General Cable Corporation, a leading player in wire and cable manufacturing industry, with all the outstanding shares of General Cable common stock for US$30.0 per share in cash. This acquisition is expected to support Prysmian Group to extent its global presence and strengthen product capabilities. | North America |
| 2017 | DowDuPont announced the successful completion of the merger of equals between The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (“DuPont”). The combined entity is operating as a holding company under the name “DowDuPont” with three divisions – Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products. | North America |
