PU consumption exceeds four billion lbs. in 1994.

While 12 diverse end-use industries consumed more than four billion pounds of polyurethanes last year, enduses within the construction, transportation and upholstered furnishings industries accounted for more than half of the total consumption, according to the findings of the 1994 Polyurethane End-Use Market Survey.

Commissioned by the polyurethane Division of The Society of the plastics Industry, Inc.., the 1994 polyuretnane end-use market survey identifies and quantifies end-uses for all polyurethane products. Specifically, the survey reveals that the construction, transportation and upholstered furnishing markets represented the largest consumers of polyurethane materials, using slightly more than 2.4 billion pounds of polyurethanes last year.

In addition to these three industries, the carpet industry, which uses polyurethanes for underlay cushioning, and the appliance industry, which uses rigid polyurethane foam insulation, rounded out the top-five, end-use industries.

The survey also identified significant increases in other end-use markets, including bedding, packaging (pallets, rigid and flexible foam cushions), textiles (adhesives, coatings and elastomers in leather and fabric products), footwear and machinery.

Of the three traditional end-use markets, the construction industry represented the single largest market for polyurethanes during 1994. The industry used more than 960 million pounds of polyurethanes, representing 23% of total polyurethane production.

The construction industry consumed slightly more than 50 or million pounds of rigid polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foam in roofing and wall insulation applications.

The construction industry also accounted for the largest end-use of polyurethane coatings. In 1994, construction applications used more than 130 million pounds of polyurethanes coatings, nearly half the total industry production. In addition to these two

Following the construction industry as the second largest end-use market, the transportation industry consumed slightly more than 850 million pounds of polyurethanes last year, or 20% of the total polyurethane market.

Transportation also represented the only industry category that used materials from every polyurethane product segment: flexible molded foams, flexible slabstock foams, integral skin foams, rigid foams, RIM, coatings, adhesives and sealants, as well as cast elastomers and TPUs.

The majority of polyurethanes used within the transportation industry included flexible molded foams, slightly more than 360 million pounds, and flexible slabstock foam, nearly 160 million pounds. The industry primarily uses these two types of polyurethane foams for seating, instrument panels, head and arm rests and consoles.

The upholstered furnishings industry consumed nearly 600 million pounds of polyurethanes, or approximately 14% of total polyurethane production, in 1994.

According to survey findings, the furnishings industry represented the single largest end-use market for polyurethane foam: Consuming nearly 530 million pounds of flexible polyurethane slabstock foam; nearly 35 million pounds of flexible molded polyurethane foam; and slightly more than 15 million pounds of rigid polyurethane foam.