Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) Piping Market Size

Glass Reinforced Plastic Piping Market Size

Glass Reinforced Plastic Piping Market size was USD 5.46 billion in 2020 and will grow at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2027. Rising urbanization and growing need for sustainable energy throughout the globe will stimulate the GRP piping industry.

GRP pipes are composed of cured thermosetting resins embedded with glass reinforcements. Glass reinforced plastics are gaining more popularity in the piping industry due to their anti-corrosion properties.

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The GRP piping market will foresee significant growth in the wastewater treatment and oil & gas sectors owing to the product’s superior properties such as chemical-resistance, lightweight, durability, adhesion, thermal resistance, low shrinkage, low maintenance & monitoring, etc. These pipes serve as a medium for supplying drinking water, wastewater, chemical processing, oil & gas, agriculture processing, seawater, industrial water, etc.

Glass fiber reinforced plastics are composites of glass fibers with a polymer matrix. The matrix is generally polyester, epoxy, or thermosetting resin. The resin significantly enhances the chemical & thermal resistance of the material and acts as a binder in the fibers of the structural laminates. Moreover, glass fibers can be conveniently oriented to enhance the composite strength.

New potential uses of GRP piping to economically substitute metal and ductile pipes in green building constructions will escalate the glass reinforced plastic piping market share. Energy demand has been rising in the urban sector owing to growing urban population; for instance, UNO reported that the global urban population will double be compared to the rural population by 2040. Government frameworks related to limited GHG emissions and energy conservation will escalate the installation of GRP piping in industrial infrastructures.

Significant development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies has led to abundant reserves of unconventional hydrocarbon in the U.S. The region will be among the largest markets in terms of liquid hydrocarbon production. There is a growing utility of GRP pipes in a range of applications in the oil & gas sector such as refinery piping, exploration, crude oil transmission, sub-sea piping, and gas transmission lines. These tasks are highly water-intensive: hence, a rise in oil & gas exploration activities, fracking for shale gas, and growing demand for biofuels will augment the glass reinforced plastic piping market revenue by 2027.

The global glass reinforced plastic piping industry is highly regulated and monitored by various regulatory authorities across the globe including the European Council, Organization for Standardization (ISO), U.S., Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS). GRP pipe manufacturers follow all national and international standards such as TSE, ISO, BS, DIN, ASTM, etc. Therefore, the entry barriers for new entrants in the GRP piping industry will be high due to the capital-intensive nature of the market.

The introduction of GRP in the piping industry has led to high volumes of scrap and end-of-life wastes. Government restrictions on landfill disposal and fluctuating raw material costs might hamper the glass reinforced plastic piping market growth. Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on the global GRP piping market, resulting in a decline in piping & fitting consumption among end-user industries.

Furthermore, the supply chain disruption and a lack of labor have declined the value of new contracts in real estate building projects during the period. A decline in consumption has enforced industry players to reduce costs and inventories.