3D Printing Materials Market by Type (Plastics, Metals, Ceramics), by Form (Powder, Filament, Liquid), by Application (Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Dental, Automotive, Consumer Goods), by Geography (U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa) – Global Market Size, Share, Development, Growth, and Demand Forecast, 2013–2023

3D Printing Materials Market Overview

The global 3D printing materials market was valued at $558.4 million in 2017 and is projected to reach $1,365.6 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 16.7% during 2018–2023. The high demand for 3D printing materials is attributed to the early adoption of additive manufacturing in North America and Europe. Apart from this, the market is also driven by presence of robust aerospace industry, and rapidly expanding automobile industry which utilize the printing materials for component manufacturing.

GLOBAL 3D PRINTING MATERIALS MARKET, BY TYPE, MT (2013-2023)

Based on type, the 3D printing materials market has been categorized into plastics, metals, ceramics, and others. The others category includes wood and stone, sand, marble, waxes, and edible materials. In terms of volume, plastics category held the largest share, accounting for more than 40.0% market share in 2017. Plastic is preferred in 3D printing as it is relatively cheap and can easily be melted to form the final product.

On the basis of form, the 3D printing materials market has been classified into powder, filament, and liquid. Filament category held the largest share in the market, accounting for more than 50.0% of sales volume in 2017. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) are the most widely used plastic filaments in the 3D printing. This can be ascribed to their superior properties such as excellent layer adhesion, reduced shrinkage, high density, and warp resistance.

Based on application, the 3D printing materials market has been categorized into aerospace and defense, medical and dental, automotive, consumer goods, and others. The others category includes fashion, electronics, art and sculpture, jewelry, food, and architecture. Aerospace and defense contributed more than 35.0% revenue in the market in 2017. Titanium is one of the most expensive material used in the 3D printing, which is majorly used in aerospace and defense application, resulting in the maximum contribution to the market, in terms of value.

Geographically, the APAC 3D printing materials market will exhibit the fastest growth, advancing at a CAGR of more than 15.0% during the forecast period, in terms of value. The potential growth is attributed to the extensive industrial base, supportive government policies and funding in research and development, resulting in increasing demand for 3D printing materials in the APAC region. The growth of the APAC 3D printing materials industry is led by China, due to growing penetration of oil 3D printing in country’s construction and electronics industries.

3D Printing Materials Market Dynamics

Drivers

3D printing is gaining popularity in additive manufacturing. Manufacturing of additives is dependent on subtractive process, in which raw material wasted during the production process is reused over and over again. 3D printing is a revolutionary technology in additive manufacturing as it involves 3D-printed raw materials, which does not require any cutting, thereby generating little or no leftover material. With the rising popularity of 3D printing in wide range of manufacturing processes, the 3D printing materials market is likely to rise at a considerable pace.

Across the industries, there is a rising need for mass customization for manufacturing different products. 3D printing enables mass customization as it does not involve initial cost of molding and specific tooling which are needed in traditional manufacturing. There are various advantages of mass customization such as it creates unique user experience and add value to goods. In construction sector, 3D printing technology can be used for building the difficult structures, thereby overcoming the limitations of conventional construction practices. With the wider scope of customization under 3D printing, the 3D printing materials market is expected to grow during the coming years.

Countries such as China, India, and Indonesia are witnessing rapid growth in purchasing power of the individuals. The growing purchasing power has boosted the sales of automobiles across these countries. For instance, in 2017, China and India have become the world’s largest and the fourth largest automotive markets with sales of vehicles reaching 29.12 million units and 4.02 million units, respectively. 3D printing is widely becoming popular in automotive industry for designing of automotive parts. With the rising adoption of 3D printing in automotive industry, the 3D printing materials market is also expected to rise during the forecast period.

Restraints

One of the key restrains witnessed in the 3D printing materials market is the high equipment cost. The high cost of machinery increases the overall capital investment needed for setting up a 3D printing facility. Along with that, it is also a time-consuming process and time it takes to print the object depends on various factors such as number of layers which needs to be printed, and speed of the printer, which is negatively impacting the market growth.

The lack of technical knowledge and expertise of 3D printing is one of the major restraints witnessed in the 3D printing materials market. A large section of workforce lacks the technical expertise of the process and tend to misinterpret things sometimes. To understand the concept of 3D printing technology, better training programs are required, so that this technology can be taken forward with expertise.

3D Printing Materials Market Competitive Landscape

Some of the major players operating in the global 3D printing materials market are Stratasys Ltd., 3D Systems Corporation, The ExOne Company, EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Arkema Group, CRP Technology Srl, EnvisionTEC GmbH, LPW Technology Ltd., Solidscape Inc., and Formlabs Inc.