5. Outlook

Thanks to the constant emergence of new applications, PMMA, an apparently mature market, has managed to maintain a worldwide average growth rate of 3.5%. PMMA producers hope to encourage designers of technical parts to think about PMMA when choosing an engineering plastic, even though it is sometimes overlooked.

In 2011, Altuglas International launched a new product, Altuglas ShieldUp, lightweight acrylic sheets with a nanometric structure (billionth of a meter) combining strength and transparency over a wide temperature range. The new product is designed as a 50% lighter replacement for glass, with applications in aeronautics, automotive, solar, safety glass, panoramic roofs and more.

Altuglas has also developed new grades of PMMA DRT Matt AS for the PVC profile market, for a wide range of terrace and garden applications.

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